What Might Have Been
by PlatinumDragon
Summary: What if a single thing had never happened? What if a single line had been cut too short? What might have been, for Tenchi and the rest of his family?
1. Chapter 1: In Dreams

What Might Have Been Chapter One: In Dreams

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

* * * * *

It was a beautiful day out; the sun was shining, and there were just enough clouds in the sky to provide occasional shade so it didn't get too hot while remaining pleasantly sunny. The lake sparkled, disturbed only now and then by the light breeze that rustled through the leaves. There was a hint of autumn in that breeze; a hint of cool nights that might need a comforter or perhaps the warm caress of a lover to get through. Birds sang softly, almost as though afraid of shattering the tranquility with too loud a note, and butterflies were lazily flying from flower to tree to flower. In the far distance, the sounds of the city could just barely be made out, but even they seemed in time with the day, melding with it. 

In the middle of it all was one Tenchi Masaki. He was making his way slowly down the old, carved-stone path; he had left for the bus early so that he could enjoy the morning. He was dressed in his school uniform; black shirt, black pants; held his book bag over one shoulder. Tenchi was smiling, mouth curved upward and eyes laughing as though at some joke only he could see. The only sound that he made was the steady clicking of his shoes against the stone of the path. The morning seemed to demand silence, beyond the singing of the birds and the sounds of the city, demanded it with all the authority of Nature. 

And yet, as perfect as the day was, somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, Tenchi couldn't shake the feeling that something was... wrong, something was missing. That something just wasn't right. It was strange, as though a voice was telling him... what? He glanced up, at the black sky with its purple sun; the sparkling of the light of the lake of boiling blood; rubbed his hands on his bare arms in a vain attempt to shake off the howling, icy gale.

Abruptly Tenchi blinked; black sky, purple sun? A lake of boiling blood tossed by an icy wind? Eyes widening, he looked around himself to find that he was once again in a peaceful, tranquil forest. After a moment, he shook his head, dismissing it as a day dream, or rather, day nightmare, and began walking again. Somewhere off in the distance, he heard the deep toll of a bell, slowly calling the morning hour. He grinned again. It was too nice a day to worry about anything, he thought abruptly with a wry laugh. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a deer sprint along, out across the path and back into the woods almost before he recognized it. Tenchi laughed again. Too nice a day to worry about anything.

But now, he slowly became aware of the fact that he didn't feel at ease anymore, of a strange, creeping, silently whispering chill that started at the very base of his spine, and ever so slowly began a painful crawl upwards. The birds soft chirping, before seemingly afraid of being too loud, began to crowd in on him. It was a quiet, haunting sound; as it fell on his ears it seemed to change from one of beauty to a sinister, evil song that made his very marrow freeze. Slowly, he stopped, frowning, looking about himself warily. That sense of something wrong came back, and for some reason he found himself looking to the sky expectantly, as if waiting for something there.

Around him, the trees began to creak, change from ancient, holy things to twisted, gnarled claws. The leaves turned gray; they fell away from the oaks and sycamores and birch and cherry trees with a dead rustle. The bark darkened from healthy reds, browns and whites to dark, drab gray. The once gentle breeze now began to blow harder, whistling and moaning through the gnarled behemoths; cold chiller than the arctic winds began to sear Tenchi down to his very soul. He thought he saw the deer again for a moment, but even as he did, SOMETHING moved and the deer simply ceased to exist.

A shadow fell over the land; he looked up to see the sun being eclipsed, turning the sky black. For a moment, he thought that he could see something, some strange, indistinct kind of mask. Then the sun was fully eclipsed; a sphere of purple light somehow pushing through in its place. 

Tenchi suddenly felt something hot on his face; with a trembling, shivering hand, he reached up and touched it lightly. His fingers came away stained with blood; he went to wipe it away on his clothes and suddenly realized that he no longer had any clothes. He looked down in surprise, and then blinked as a hand slowly started to grow out of the ground at his feet. For a moment, the hand just stayed there, and then abruptly it grabbed onto his ankle, fingernails becoming sharp talons. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out, or if it did it was ripped away by the howling wind. His life's blood sprayed away, somehow reaching the lake, and as it dropped in the water began to boil, became blood. Another claw sank into his other ankle, and he felt himself slowly begin to be dragged into the chill earth; struggle as he might, he could not get free.

The claws pulled him down to his waist; suddenly the wind wasn't howling, it was laughing, laughing madly at him. Then, abruptly, two golden spheres appeared before him, and a hand that was stretching slowly toward him. Desperately he tried to stretch out to that hand; more claws grew out of the ground and sank into his sides and shoulders. Somehow, he kept reaching to that disembodied hand and those two golden spheres. Their fingertips brushed, and Tenchi felt a surge of hope, just before the claws yanked down hard, ripping their hands apart. Tenchi opened his mouth to scream as his eyes began to sink below the earth, but dirt poured into his throat like water, smothering him, drowning him...

  


"Ahhh!" shouted Tenchi, as he sat bolt upright, gasping for breath. Heart pounding, he began to panic as he realized that while he could breath again, he still couldn't see, and frightening as the world had become, it was sheer terror to not be able to see what might be coming after him. Scrabbling to get away, he found that he was tangled up in something; the blood pounding in his ears made it seem as though he was standing next to a thunderbolt. 

Abruptly the lights came on; he stopped thrashing about as he realized that he was in a bed, and that he was only tangled in the sheets. His heart began to climb back down into his ribcage; as the blood stopped pounding so loudly, he heard his mother asking him what was wrong. Shaking his head to clear away the cobwebs, he looked at her.

At thirty-eight, Achika Masaki still looked like she was only twenty. Her long, black hair was tied back into a pony tail, and it hung just past her waist. He'd learned to watch for her to unconsciously tug at it when she got angry or very worried- which wasn't very often, but she had one hand wrapped about it at the moment. She stood perhaps half a foot shorter than Tenchi, and had the same gentle brown eyes as he did. Her cheekbones were slightly raised, and her nose ever so slightly hooked; sometimes, if the light was just right, you could see something of a hawk there. She looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Tenchi, what's wrong?" she asked, coming over to the side of the bed. Shaking his head again, he smiled at her.

"Nothing, Mother, I just... had a really weird dream," he told her. "A really, really weird dream." The nightmare was already fading away as most dreams did, yet... it had felt so real. Abruptly, Achika gasped in surprise, and caught his head lightly in her hands. He blinked as she leaned down.

"When did you get this cut, Tenchi?" she asked. He blinked again, and looked at her.

"What..." He paused, as he felt something hot on his cheek. Blinking, he reached up and lightly touched it; his fingers came away smeared with crimson, and he felt the blood drain from his face. Achika looked at him, frowning slightly.

"Are you feeling well, Tenchi? Do you think you need to stay home today?" she asked. Shrugging free of her grasp, he shook his head, and smiled.

"No, I'm... I'm fine, mom. I must have scratched myself during that dream," he said. For a moment, she frowned at him consideringly, before nodding.

"Alright." She paused a moment, and suddenly Tenchi's alarm clock went off, making them both jump. Looking at each other, they laughed, as he reached over and hit the off switch. "Get cleaned up and ready for school," she told him, stepping back from the bed. "I'll make some breakfast while you do," she said, smiling, and he nodded, grinning. Smiling again, she left the room, and Tenchi began to untangle himself from the sheets. He paused a moment; how had he gotten that cut? Blood on his cheek had been in his dream... But no, that couldn't be. Probably he had scratched himself, and it had worked it's way into the dream. 

Yeah. That had to be it. He hoped.

  


"Turn to your partner; study their face a moment, and then put them on your paper. You have the rest of the period to complete your assignment. Begin." Pencils descended to paper, as the students in Tenchi's art class began work on their latest assignment. He waited patiently as Kei lightly ran her hand over his face, and then looked at her, smiling. She grinned at him as she began to sketch out his face. Looking down to his own paper, he touched the pencil lead down, and slowly began to make a line.

Art was one of his favorite classes; usually he had no trouble with any of the assignments. Usually. But for some reason, today, as he heard the soft scratching away of the other student's pencils, he just couldn't get the lines to come together right. Half an hour had already gone by, and he'd only managed to draw one eye. Even that didn't look right. It was a perfect eye, he knew; the lashes were just long enough, the curves of the iris just sloping enough, yet it still looked wrong.

After a moment, he erased the iris lines, and drew them much less curved, more slitted, like a cat's eye, instead of ovals. Then he added sharply pointed ovals for the pupils too. Now it was just right; now he began to recognize the feeling that he sometimes got when he was deeply into a drawing, when his hands began to draw without him thinking of what he was doing. It was a feeling that he always got when he was doing his best work, and he let it take over.

A second eye was added, the same cat-like iris as the first. A petite, slightly up-turned nose appeared; then a gently smiling mouth. The first sketch of her hair went in, long and luxurious and flowing; Tenchi frowned, and erased it all. The second attempt started to take shape; long spikes of hair, and two long tails that hung down to her chest. He drew in her bangs, almost curled spikes that partly covered her eyebrows. He added a somewhat sharp chin, and slightly rectangular shaped ears. After a moment's thought, he softened the chin just slightly.

Setting his pencil down, his hand hovered over a brown colored pencil for a moment before settling on a blue so light it was almost silver. Slowly, he filled in her hair, getting the shade just right; setting down the cyan color, he blended in just a touch of blue-green. Her skin gained an alabaster tone. Tenchi stared at the drawing for a moment. Something was still missing from it; a sparkle caught his eye. Looking, he saw a gold colored pencil; grinning, he picked it up and shaded in her irises with it.

Leaning back in his chair as the feeling left him, he studied what he'd drawn. The girl there wasn't Kei... yet he was certain that he knew who she was. Her face was so familiar; though he knew that he'd never seen it before. His brow furrowed, as he sacked his mind for a name. "R... Ryoko..." he said softly, an then blinked as the picture was plucked from his grasp.

"Well, Mr. Masaki! I must say that this is an excellent effort!" boomed his teacher, drawing the attention of the other students. "Look class! See how closely Mr. Masaki has matched the shade of Kei's hair, and the color and shape of her eyes?" he said, holding up the drawing for them all to see. Laughter rippled through the classroom, and Tenchi blushed, as the teacher handed it back to him, grinning.

"I'm sorry sir, I don't know what happened," he said meekly. His teacher nodded.

"Sometimes you envision something that has to be drawn, and can't do anything else until you do. This one time, I will accept it and give you credit, just try not to do it again," he said quietly, grinning again. Tenchi nodded in relief.

"Yes, Sensei," he answered. The bell rang; his teacher told them that they were excused, and reminded them to pick up a permission slip for the next week's field trip. Tenchi packed away his things; after a moment's thought, he tucked the drawing of the golden eyed girl into his book bag too. Kei elbowed him lightly in the side as he moved toward the door. He grabbed a pair of the permission slips and placed one in her hand; she tucked it into her bag.

"So, who is she?" she asked, grinning. He winced.

"I... don't know. Honest. I was trying to do the assignment, and she just... you know... kinda appeared," said Tenchi. 

"Then why did I hear you say Ryoko? I heard you say it just before Okai-sensei took it," she countered, with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Tenchi raised his hands defensively.

"She's probably just one of my mother's old friends. Her skin is too light to be Japanese; I probably met her when I was just a little kid and didn't remember her till just now," he said. Kei looked at him skeptically.

"Uh-huh." Tenchi took hold of her hands.

"I swear, I don't know who she is, and I've never seen her before," he assured her. After a moment, her skeptical look melted into a grin.

"Ok baka, I believe you. So, are we still on for tonight?" she asked. He grinned.

"Assuming that I can get grandpa to let me out of sword practice," he said lightly. Kei punched him on the shoulder.

"You told me you had everything taken care of last week!" she exclaimed, socking him again. He did his best to ward her off, laughing.

"Ok, ok! Ow, I was just kidding!" he said.

"Tenchi no baka!" Kei answered, scowling and looking away. He grinned.

"Are you saying that I would dare forget about our date at the carnival? How could I, you remind me every five minutes," he said dryly.

"I do not! Anyway, what about that time you forgot we were meeting at the mall to shop?" she countered. 

"Ok, so I forgot one time. At least I had a good excuse, Kei," he said, grinning again. She glanced at him, smirking, as they stepped out the front entrance of the school. He reached into his pocket and got out his sunglasses; the sun was bright today.

"The convenient twisted ankle," she said. He shrugged.

"Grandpa tripped me, what was I supposed to do?

"Not be so clumsy?" she deadpanned. Tenchi grinned, as she sighed in mock exasperation. "How'd I ever end up with somebody like you, I'll never understand." He took a moment to look at her. Kei was a full foot shorter than he was, with reddish-brown hair, pale skin, and freckles spotting her cheeks. Her eyes were sparkling mirrors of teal; she had a little rosebud of a mouth. She was an orphan; her parents had just moved to Japan and were killed in a car wreak that somehow left her untouched. She'd been placed into the foster system and had been lucky enough to have grown up with the same two foster parents, rather than having been shuffled around.

Of course, what most people didn't know was that she was also blind, and had been since birth. The reason that most didn't was that she didn't act blind; she looked at people when they spoke, and seemed to have some sort of personal sonar that kept her from running into people and things. And she could draw! She could draw things from simple descriptions; all she had to do was touch a person's face once and she could draw it in perfect detail. He had never once seen her need to erase a line or alter a drawing because she'd made a mistake on proportioning.

"An uncanny sense of character?" he asked. She grinned at him. Lately they'd had special cause for celebration. Because she could differentiate between different levels of light, his aunt Washu, a doctor and researcher at the hospital, thought that there was a chance that she might be able to cure her condition, that Kei might be able to see. The operation was scheduled for Friday, two days from today; tomorrow she would go in for several pre-operation tests and exams.

Her bus pulled up, and he tapped her shoulder. Kei turned to him, and stood up on tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she smiled and hurried over to the bus. As she climbed on, she looked toward him. 

"You better be ready at 3:30 Tenchi Masaki, or else!"

  


First Princess Ayeka, of the royal house of Jurai, screamed as she sat up in her bed, and curled into a fetal ball, as she had done on so many nights, and would do on so many more. The sweat on her skin felt like ice; her bed sheets were soaked with it. She took in several deep breaths, and calmed herself, as she had had so much practice in. A light came on, as the Guardians looked in on her.

"Are you alright, your Highness?"

"That same dream again?" She nodded, waving them away. Every night, like clockwork, she had the same nightmare; every night, reliving watching the little cyan-haired girl being she had just met in the flower field being torn apart by a strange, black blob.

So many nights, waking up, screaming, as the blob turned toward her.

Sighing, she uncurled, and stood, making her way to her washroom. Turning on the faucet, she splashed herself with cold water, letting the chill wash away the last of her dream. Ayeka looked up at the mirror, at a miserable looking woman. Her nightgown had come partly undone, enough to show a fair amount of the thick, slashing scar she had received on that day. It ran from the tip of her chin, along her jaw line and down, over her right breast and under her left, then terminating after making a sharp turn and running down her side to just above her waist. It was her other reminder of that day.

By far, she preferred the scar.

The experience had been a shocking one; she had only survived by the chance arrival of the guardians. The blob had fled as they fired on it. To this day, she still found herself very afraid of sounds from dark places. And every night, that same, terrible dream, over and over. Doctors from thousands of worlds had tried to dislodge it; psychics to simply erase it, but without fail, every night it returned.

Some nights, it seemed somehow worse, such as this night; she would wake up screaming in terror, as she just had. Other nights Ayeka would sleep through it; it would seem muted, far away, as though she was watching a grainy recording. 

"Princess Ayeka, we are receiving a signal from Princess Sasami," said Azaka, poking his single electronic eye around the corner. She glanced at him.

"Thank you, Azaka. I will take it in my bedchamber. Tell me, what is our current position?" she asked.

"We are presently three light years from our meeting place with Princess Sasami. At our current rate of speed, we will arrive one day ahead of schedule," he replied after a moment. She nodded.

"Please decrease speed so that we arrive at the appointed time," she said.

"Yes, your highness," he replied, before floating away. Nodding, Ayeka reached out and grabbed a towel, drying her face. Straightening, she composed herself, rebuttoned the nightshirt, and went back out to sit on her bed.

"Open communication." A wide screen appeared, with Sasami's smiling, freckled face.

"Hi sis! I'm sorry for calling so late," she said almost before the screen was done forming. Ayeka shook her head.

"I was awake anyway, Sasami. What is it?" she asked, smiling slightly. She lost some of her smile.

"I just had the strangest dream... and now I've got this feeling that I need to be somewhere else... and that you should be there too," she said slowly. Ayeka frowned slightly.

"What sort of dream, Sasami?" she asked. Sasami sighed.

"It was weird... I felt like I was flying, and I saw this house. There were people there... the only two people that I could make out were you and I, but there were seven of us in all, four other girls and one boy. I couldn't see their faces, but... It felt... happy there." Sasami paused a moment, looking at her. "And... you didn't have..." Sasami trailed off, but her hand traced the line of Ayeka's scar on her own chin. Her sister had always been a little uncomfortable talking about it; Juraian tradition put physical beauty on a high pedestal, and it was something that she intended to change. Perhaps that was something she had learned; the silver lining of that dark day. The ability to see the hypocrisy of the government she had been raised to one day take over.

"You know that couldn't be, Sasami; no one has been able to remove it." She sighed, but smiled slightly. "After this long, I probably wouldn't let them do it anyway. It's become as much a part of who I am as my training. A valuable reminder of a lesson that I was given."

Sasami sighed, "I know, but... It just felt so... real, so..." She trailed off, sighing again, and Ayeka smiled, as she got an idea.

"I'll tell you what. How far are you from the rendezvous?" she asked. Sasami blinked, but looked to the side for a moment.

"I'm about a day ahead, why?" she said.

"So am I. There are a couple of inhabited planets in the area. We'll go to one and take a look around. Maybe we'll find that house; who knows, perhaps we'll see the people you saw. How does that sound?" she asked, smiling again. Sasami's eyes widened.

"Really?" she asked, excitement in her eyes. Ayeka nodded.

"Really. We'll rendezvous, and then take Ryou-oh in, ok?" she said. Sasami laughed in delight, and nodded.

"I can't wait! This is gonna be great!" she said. Ayeka grinned slightly.

"Alright. You get back to sleep; I'll see you in a couple hours," she said. Sasami grinned, and then closed the communication. Ayeka smiled as it did, and then sighed once it was closed. For a moment, she pictured herself without the thick, slashing scar.

"Azaka, Kamadake. Return us to our previous speed, and please give me scans of the nearby inhabited planets. We will be taking short side trip," she called; ignoring the confirming "Yes Ma'am!" she sighed, and began to pick through her drawers for something to wear.

"Hey Mihoshi, what did you do with my hairbrush?" called Kiyone, as she sleepily looked around for it.

"I think you might have left it in the bathroom, Kiyone. Didn't you?" came the answer. Kiyone stretched out luxuriously, and then stood, padding over to the Yagami's bathroom. Sure enough, it was siting next to the wash basin.

"I'm going to take my bath. Think you can handle keeping watch for a little while?"

"Yeah sure, Kiyone!" answered the blonde. Kiyone sighed, grinning, and ran some wash water. Closing the door and stripping out of her nightgown, she sighed again, this time in pleasure, as she stepped into the steaming water, and let it cover her to the chin. Closing her eyes, she let herself soak for awhile.

When they had been assigned to this remote sector, at first, she thought her career was over. Nothing ever happened beyond the occasional breakdown of a ship or minor traffic infraction. And she'd been stuck with Mihoshi! All alone with her... she'd seriously considered deserting. But once they'd gotten there, something had happened. Kiyone wasn't sure if it was the peace and quiet, or what, but she felt like she - and Mihoshi - belonged here. It was like they were there to wait for something... Something important.

The water splashed a little as she started to soap herself up; things out here were so quiet... She'd never liked keeping still, yet here... She wondered what it was they were waiting for, wondered when it would happen. It had to be something important, she was sure of it. Otherwise the feeling wouldn't be so strong. Sighing again, she rinsed herself off, and stood up, draining the water and getting a towel to dry herself off.

Stepping back into her room and letting the towel drop, she set about trying to find her uniform. She wasn't entirely sure where she'd tossed it all when she'd staggered into her bedroom the night before and dropped onto her bed almost before tugging on her nightshirt. Bit by bit, it did come together though. Bra, shirt, pants, socks, panties and her black and blue vest; she found her shield under a book and pinned it on. Kiyone paused a moment, in front of the mirror, and took a close look at herself. A young, healthy woman in a tight Galaxy Police uniform looked back at her. She looked ready to go conquer all the criminals out there.

Kiyone sighed again. Ready or not, she still had to wait for whatever that something was. Taking a second to straighten her collar, she walked up to the cockpit to find Mihoshi in her favorite pink sweater and blue jeans. "Mihoshi, why aren't you in your uniform? If HQ called with you wearing that, do you have any idea how much trouble we'd be in?" she asked. Mihoshi grinned.

"It's our week off silly, remember? They're sending Mitzuki up to cover for us?" she reminded her. Kiyone blinked, as the blonde turned back to her console. She sat down slowly.

"I forgot, totally," she said, and then laughed. "They hardly need to send anybody up. The sector has been even deader than usual this past couple weeks," she mused. Mihoshi nodded.

"So where do you want to go? I was kinda sorta thinking about the Sol system..." said Mihoshi. Kiyone looked at her blandly.

"You know we can't go there, Mihoshi, it's off limits to inter-stellar traffic by the order of Jurai," said Kiyone.

"I know, but it's practically home! I mean, it is the nearest planet on our patrol route... We could just say we had an emergency and needed to get supplies!" answered her partner. Kiyone frowned.

"Mihoshi..." The blonde looked at her with huge, blue puppy dog eyes.

"Please Kiyone? Please?!?" she begged. Kiyone sighed; she knew she couldn't resist that look.

"Oh, alright. But only for two days! Anymore than that, and we might be picked up by Jurai's scanners," she conceded. Mihoshi grinned.

"Yay!" The blonde pressed a button on her console, and Yagami started moving. Kiyone frowned at her.

"You already had the course laid in?" she asked. Mihoshi grinned slightly.

"Well, only kinda sorta. I was practicing plotting courses - you told me to, remember! - and just... happened to use Earth as a destination." Kiyone sighed again, and then laughed.

"What am I gonna do with you Mihoshi?"

  


"Hey mom, dad, I'm home!" called Tenchi, as he opened the door. Setting his school bag on the table and taking off his shoes, he walked upstairs. 

"Don't forget about the carnival, Tenchi!" came Achika's reply. Tenchi grinned.

"I know mom, I was just about to get cleaned up. Oh yeah, in my book bag there's a permission slip that I need you to sign for my art class field trip," he said, before pulling the bathroom door shut, and running some water. Twenty minutes later, he came back down, dressed in a pair of slacks and a white T-shirt. Entering the kitchen, he opened the fridge and grabbed a pop before going into the living room.

To Tenchi's surprise, he found his mother, father, grandfather and aunt Washu sitting there; the picture he had drawn earlier that day between them. Achika looked up as he came in, an odd look in her eyes. The mood in the room was somber; finally, the silence grew too much and Tenchi spoke.

"What's wrong?" he asked. The four of them looked at each other, and then his grandfather spoke.

"Tenchi, have you seen this woman?" he asked, indicating the drawing. Tenchi shook his head in confusion.

"No... She just sorta appeared on the paper today in class. I thought that she might have been one of mom's old friends that I met a long time ago," he answered. They looked at each other again.

"Do you know who she is?" Tenchi frowned.

"When I finished it, the name Ryoko kinda popped into my head. What's wrong anyway? You're acting like you've seen a ghost," he said. His mother smiled, but that strange look wouldn't leave her eyes.

"Nothing, Tenchi... It's... just such a good drawing, we were afraid that Kei might have some competition. That's all," she said, and then laughed. "But I know you wouldn't do something like that to Kei." Tenchi blushed slightly.

"Mom, you know me -" He paused as his wrist watch beeped. "Oh man, I gotta go, it's quarter after three. Kei will kill me if I'm late!" he exclaimed, looking at the watch. Nobuyuki dug into his pocket, and pulled out the mini-van keys.

"Here, Tenchi," he said, tossing them to him. "Have a good time."

"Thanks, Dad!" answered Tenchi, as he spun and hurried out the door. "I'll be back around ten!"

  


As Tenchi disappeared out the door, Achika sighed in relief. Her eyes were drawn back to the picture again. It was perfect; Ryoko in every detail. She still wasn't quite sure how that could be; Tenchi had never, and would never meet her, as far as she understood it. She looked at Washu as she spoke.

"So it's finally starting... I have to admit, when my double released me, I didn't really believe her, but now there is no doubt. Multi-temporal dimensional residue; he's picking up images of what should have happened," she said. "It would be interesting to find out if they are picking up any of what we're going through, wouldn't it?" Katsuhito nodded slightly.

"Then if she was right, the others will be drawn here as well."

"And once they arrive, what then?" asked Achika. Washu shrugged.

"If their Washu was right, and since I always am she must be too, we'll be tugged in the right direction until we can find a way to repair the damage done by Ryoko's death. Once we do... who knows? We may vanish, or we may continue on," she said. Achika shivered at the grim pronouncement.

"What is important now is that we are ready when the time comes," said Nobuyuki, and Washu nodded.

"Right. I've already got things set up in my lab. We'll only have one chance. I just hope they're ready on their end," she said. Katsuhito nodded, and then stood.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go get something."

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	2. Chapter 2: Meeting for the First Time Ag...

What Might Have Been Chapter Two: Meeting for the First Time Again

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

Tenchi grinned as he led Kei through the front gates of the carnival. Bright colors flared all about them; joyful, fast paced music filled the air, along with the screams of delight from people on the rides. The carnival would be there for two weeks; they were planning on coming back once Kei was out of the hospital so that she could see it. People moved all about them, but for so late in the afternoon, it was still surprisingly empty. Tenchi closed his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine what it must be like for Kei. To be able to stand there and hear all the noises, smell all the smells, but not to be able to see any of it. This was only the first time that she had ever been to a carnival; she was trying to tilt her head to listen in practically every direction at once.

-What's that, Tenchi?- His eyes popped open at the question, and he blinked, looking around.

"Hey Baka! I asked what that screaming I just heard was all about?" said Kei, elbowing him. He looked at her.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention. It was people on the roller coaster," he answered, putting his arm around her shoulders. She grinned.

"Hey, it sounds like fun. Let's go!" she said. He almost laughed; she was all but hopping up and down in excitement. Grinning, he led her toward the towering behemoth. On the way they passed a small stir-fry stand; the scent tickled his nose.

-Hey Tenchi, I'm kinda hungry...- He stopped, and looked around trying to find the source of the little girl's voice. Where was it coming from?

"Did you just say something, Kei?" he asked. She glanced at him.

"No. What, are you hearing things now? Although with all the babble here, I guess that I can't blame you. Where is this roller coaster, anyway?" she asked. Shaking his head, he started moving again.

"We're almost there, Kei. We just have to get in line," he said, as he guided her into place. Now she really was shivering with excitement; he grinned again. "Long line though," he told her. Slowly, it moved forward until finally they were next.

"Jeeze, there's a lot of waiting, isn't there?" she muttered, before grinning again.

-I can't wait!- Jumping, Tenchi spun, looking behind himself to see if there was somebody behind him, but all that was there was a surprised looking ride attendant.

"Sir? Sir, the car is boarding now," said the man. Tenchi shook his head slightly.

"Sorry, I thought... nevermind," he said, as the attendant led them to the car. Kei sat down, and he helped her to secure her restraints, grinning slightly at her sour expression.

"I hate being strapped in here like this," she grumbled.

"Well, if you'd prefer to fall out in the loops..." he told her, and she winced. He checked his own restraints, and then the car began to move forward, to the base of the first hill. The chain caught them, and began jerking them up toward the top. What was that voice the he kept hearing? It sounded so familiar, but... And nobody else seemed to hear it. Was he losing his mind or something? The coaster reached the top, and hung there for a split second.

"I'm excited!" said Kei, squeezing his hand.

-I'm excited!- came the voice, and then the chain pulled them over the edge. Tenchi felt his stomach hit his throat as they dropped; Kei screamed shrilly in surprise. They gained speed, flying around corners and spinning through corkscrews. Finally, the coaster pulled to a stop and the restraints opened again; Kei was laughing as they stood up and moved toward the exit. She was holding to him a little dizzily, but grinned as she looked up at his face.

"That was great! So what's next?"

  


"Ayeka!" Sasami laughed as the docking tube's doors swished open with a hiss of steam, and ran to her. She threw her arms about the elder princess. Ayeka smiled slightly.

"Hello Sasami," she said, hugging her back. "Did you bring your things?" she asked, as she stepped back slightly. Sasami nodded.

"Yep! The guardians are bringing them over right now," she told her. "So, which one are we going to visit?" she asked, excitement in her pink eyes. Ayeka smiled at her.

"After looking at the scans, I think that Earth would be a good choice. Jurai has control of it, so we will be able to safely visit, and the locals look as we do, so we'll blend in with no troubles," she said, and Sasami nodded.

"Ok!" Ayeka smiled again, but then looked at her very seriously.

"Listen carefully though. We can only stay for a couple of days, and if you get separated from me, you need to use your beacon immediately to call Ryou-oh, ok?" she said. Sasami lost some of her excitement, but nodded.

"I know..." She paused a moment, and then brightened again. "But I'm still excited! We don't get to do stuff like this very often, do we?" she asked. Ayeka shook her head.

"No, we don't, so don't tell anybody," she told her. Disengaging from Sasami's ship, she brought up a three-dimensional globe of the Earth. "Since I chose the planet, you may decide where we will land, Sasami." She grinned, and looked at the globe for a moment.

"How about..." she started, raising her finger and closing her eyes, "there!" Stabbing forward, Sasami opened her eyes and looked at her choice, as did Ayeka.

"Hmmm... Japan. And it looks like a good place to land Ryou-oh too," said Ayeka, after studying the data for that region. She nodded. "Japan it is, then."

"Yay!" laughed Sasami. Ayeka smiled, chuckling softly, and then looked at Azaka and Kamadake.

"Set a course for those co-ordinates, and engage the stealth before we come in range of their satellites," she ordered. 

"Yes ma'am!" Ayeka turned to Sasami.

"Now... Tell me more about that dream, Sasami."

  


Tenchi sighed, and sat up from his bed, glancing at his clock. A large 12:06 glowed at him; for the past hour and a half, he had lay in bed, trying to sleep, but tonight he just couldn't. He wondered if it was because he was worried for Kei, or if it was because he was afraid to go to sleep. Either way, he was still wide awake, with not even a hint of far-off drowsiness. 

He'd dropped Kei off at the hospital on their way home from the carnival. Tenchi thought that they had probably just about ridden out most of the rides there; Kei had wanted to go again, and again, and again. He was so stuffed full of cotton candy and other carnival foods he thought that he just might burst. Still, it had been a fun night; Kei had enjoyed herself, and that was what was important.

Frowning, he stood, and felt his way over to his work desk. Switching on the reading lamp, he sat down, and stared at the desk for a moment, before reaching underneath to thumb the latch. Raising it so that he could draw, he grabbed his sketchbook and flipped it open to a fresh page. Idly, he began to sketch, not really paying attention to what. He found sometimes on nights like this that drawing helped to calm him; more than once he'd woken up to find a half-done drawing. His hand moved across the paper automatically; he finally started to feel slightly drowsy as he started to turn the page. Starting to draw again, Tenchi let his mind relax, and felt himself finally slipping away. But something caught him; Tenchi found himself suddenly hanging just off the edge, no longer sure if he was asleep, awake, or something else entirely. Thoughts came to him slowly, as though through a fog was impeding their progress.

Distantly, he saw his hand moving across the paper. The basic outline of a woman appeared, only to be refined to a low-cut dress that was loose on the arms but form fitting about her waist and hips. He saw her head go in; it was turned to the side, but that distinctive spiky hair was impossible to miss. It was like watching through somebody else's eyes as somebody else's hand created something he knew only he had seen before. After a moment, the stone she was laying on formed, and a small pool of water beside her.

-Smell of alcohol... yup. Better get her some water...- The drawing suddenly gained vividly real, beautiful color; the strange, beautiful cyan hair; her dress was orange, black and white. He saw his hand - his own hand? - dip into the small pool and bring some water to her lips. She drank it, and then coughed once or twice before opening her golden eyes and looking at him in surprise, a slight blush on her cheeks.

Tenchi was abruptly fully awake, and he stood up too fast. His head came solidly into contact with the cabinet above his desk with a loud thunk. His head exploded into pain and he felt the world drop out from under him. As consciousness flickered away from him, he heard a soft, chiming laugher that led him farther into darkness.

  


"There, that looks like a good place to land. Mountains covered in forests, should be plenty of cover for Yagami," said Kiyone. Mihoshi nodded.

"There is a house and an old shrine not far away, but that won't be a problem, don't you think?" asked the blonde. Kiyone shook her head.

"We'll blend right in with the locals. Gotta give you credit, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea," she told her. Mihoshi beamed a smile at her; Kiyone grinned, and then glanced at her read-outs. "Ten seconds to touch down. Landing struts down."

"Inertia dampers and artificial gravity off, Kiyone!"

"Firing braking thrusters." The Yagami shuddered as the micro-thrusters fired, slowing their descent to a crawl. "Touch down in three... two... one... mark!" There was a bump, and then the ship was still. Kiyone grinned at Mihoshi. "Shutting down the main engines, and going to hostile stand-by mode." The ship sighed as it powered down, an indicator turning on to confirm that the sensor cloak was active.

"Hostile stand-by confirmed Kiyone; we're invisible to all but a visual scan," said Mihoshi. Kiyone nodded.

"Ok, we've landed and are secure. How far to that Shrine?" she asked.

"Just one click west," answered Mihoshi. Kiyone sighed.

"At least it's a nice day for a walk. Do you have everything you need?" she asked. Mihoshi nodded, picking up a small duffel bag. "Well, let's get going then," she said, standing. Mihoshi grinned, and they exited the ship. Once they had moved a few feet away, they paused a moment while Kiyone pulled out her com-link. "Computer, activate camo-shield." The metal skin of the ship shimmered for a moment, and then changed color to match that of the surrounding forests. Turning, they started moving west.

"Sure is nice here," said Mihoshi. Kiyone nodded, looking around at the towering trees.

"Yeah... Feels like I'm coming home after a long time away, for some reason," she said quietly. Mihoshi looked at her in surprise. 

"You too? I was just thinking that I've been here before... It's a really weird feeling of déjà vu..." she told her. Kiyone glanced at her.

"Probably just because we've been out in space for so long. We're not used to used to planetary air or something," she mused. After a moment, her partner nodded.

"Probably." She looked around. "Still... it just seems so... familiar." Kiyone sighed.

"Yeah. Who knows, maybe we lived here in another life," she laughed. Mihoshi blinked at her, and then laughed too.

"You did." They stopped in shock, as a young, pink-haired girl suddenly appeared before them. She was grinning; Kiyone abruptly registered the fact that her clothing was an old-style Science Academy uniform.

"Who... who are you?" she asked, hand inching toward her blaster. She grinned.

"I am Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe! And you are Kiyone and Mihoshi, detectives first class, graduated galactic year, 3020, second and third in your class, respectively," she told them. They looked at each other agape.

"How do you know all that???" asked Kiyone. Washu grinned.

"Didn't I just say that I was the greatest scientific genius in the universe? Actually, you two have been expected here for awhile," she said, grinning.

"Huh? How?" Washu shook her head, her expression turning serious. 

"This will be kinda tough to explain, and we're still waiting for two others to arrive. All that I can say right now is that twenty years ago, something very wrong happened, and we need your help to fix it." She paused, and then grinned. "At the very least, you'll get a couple of good meals and something to laugh about when you think about the crazies that you met!"

  


"Ugh... Why does my head hurt so much?" groaned Tenchi, as he reached up to rub his head. When he felt a slightly painful tug on his arm, he paused. Blinking, he looked at his arm to see a small, clear tube attached to a long needle which vanished into his flesh through a plug in his arm. Blinking again, he looked around, and realized that he was in a hospital room. Lifting his other arm and seeing that it was IV-free, he gingerly felt at his head, to find it wrapped in bandages.

"Oh yeah... I hit my head last night. I think it was last night, at least," he mumbled to himself, as he leaned back in the hospital bed. He was alone in the room; glancing around, he found the call button and pressed it. A moment later, Tenchi blinked in surprise as his aunt Washu came in dressed in a nurse's uniform. She grinned.

"Oh good! You're awake! That means that I can start collecting my samples!" she said.

"Huh?" he asked in confusion. Had he hit himself harder than he'd thought?

"Samples silly! I need to find out what makes you different from normal humans," she said, as she produced an impossibly huge hypodermic needle from a pocket. The needle alone was thick as his arm and almost as tall as she was. "I think I'll start with your brain tissue!" she exclaimed, as she turned the needle toward his face, and aligned the needle with his eye.

"What are you doing aunt!" he shouted, trying to push away, but the bed sheets became hands and held him down to the bed. The fluid in the IV changed color; it began to burn through the bag, and it suddenly felt like it was feeding pure flames into his arm. The muscles around the IV started to cramp painfully; he wanted to shout in pain, but couldn't, as his jaw began to knot up. Washu laughed sinisterly.

"Now, hold still Tenchi... This is going to hurt just a little bit..." She started to move forward, the needle lancing toward his eye. Somehow, he managed to grate out some words.

"No, stop! LET ME GO!!!"

  


"Gah!" exclaimed Tenchi, as he sat bolt upright, looking around. He found himself once again in a hospital room, but unlike before, his parents and grandfather were there with him. Glancing at his right arm, he once again saw an IV, but the liquid was clear; it didn't burn or make his muscles cramp. A dull, throbbing pain thudded in his head, as though every single headache he'd ever had were all happening at once, centered just left of square between his eyes. Achika looked up in surprise at his shout, and then sighed in relief as she saw him awake.

"You finally woke up, thank goodness," she said, smiling.

"I almost wish that I hadn't," he groaned, gingerly feeling at his forehead through the bandages there. "What happened? The last thing that I clearly remember was looking at the time." His father sighed.

"We aren't quite sure, but when we found you, you were laying on the floor, bleeding from a nasty cut on your forehead. Washu said that you had a concussion; that was two and a half days ago. You've been unconscious since then," he said. Achika nodded, handing him his sketch book.

"This was open on your desk when we came in," she told him. Tenchi flipped it open, and found the drawing that had triggered that weird half-dream. He frowned as he saw blood splattered all over the girl's face and body, ruining the drawing. Then he blinked as he realized that the little pond next to her had been filled in perfectly by a blood stain, as if it had been painted in there.

"A lake of boiling blood," he mumbled softly.

"What's that Tenchi?" asked his mother. He looked at her, and very carefully shook his head. Even so, he groaned as that set off an explosion of pain.

"N-nothing. Two and a half days? Then that means -" he started, before there was a soft knock on the door. He turned to see Washu there, grinning.

"Well, well, look who's finally awake. What did I tell you Achika, no more than three days. Think you're up to a visitor, Tenchi?" she asked, grinning. He nodded slowly, and she turned around, disappearing just long enough to push a wheelchair bearing Kei in it in. Heavy bandages were wrapped around her head and eyes, covering them completely, but she was grinning.

"Kei!"

"I thought that I was the one who was supposed to be blind, baka. Now I hear about you hitting your head on something even I could miss?" she laughed. Tenchi grinned, as he closed his sketch book.

"I would have thought that they'd have taken off the bandages off by now to see if the operation was a success," he said. Washu smirked at him.

"Well, I tried, but SOMEBODY had to go and get himself unconscious, so she refused to let me take them off until he woke up," she said, looking at Kei wryly. Tenchi blinked as she blushed slightly.

"I just didn't want the first time I actually saw the baka to be him out cold! Well, he's awake now, so come on!" she exclaimed, squirming in the wheelchair. Washu smirked again, and then began to carefully unwrap the bandages. Layer by layer, they slowly came off, as a tense, hopeful excitement settled into the room around them. Finally, all that were left were two large, thick pads that covered Kei's eyes, a final bit of protection for them.

"Ok. I want you to listen to me very carefully now Kei. Squeeze your eyes shut as tight as you can at first. If they're open before they have the chance to get used to the light, it may damage them beyond repair, ok?" said Washu, in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Kei nodded.

"They're closed," she said. Taking a deep breath, Washu carefully pulled the pads away.

"Now... Very, very slowly, open them, just until you can see a very little light," she instructed. Kei's eyelids fluttered slightly, until just the tiniest slits opened.

"It's so..." she started, and then paused. "So... bright. Not was I was in before, this is... warm. It makes me think of something warm, and what I was in before made me think of cold," she said. Washu nodded, and grinned.

"Alright, now this is up to you. When you think that you can handle it, let your eyes open a little more, but if they start to hurt, close them again right away," she told her. Kei nodded. They all watched in silence as her lids slowly, ever so slowly began to spread open. It had to have been only minutes, but to Tenchi the whole thing seemed to take hours. Slowly, she opened her eyes; just a little at a time, until finally, finally, they were fully open. Tenchi felt his jaw drop as he saw them. Gone were the teal irises that he had always known, replaced by sparkling golden orbs. For a moment, just for a moment, they wavered, unfocused, as though trying to understand how to work, before slowly dilating and locking onto him.

"T... Tenchi?" she asked softly. Wordless, he slowly nodded at her. For a moment, she just stared at him, and then, slowly, suddenly, she began to laugh as tears started to stream down her face. "I... I can... I can actually see you!" she exclaimed, her voice a mixture of absolute shock and pure joy. All at once the room broke into applause and relieved laugher, Achika, Nobuyuki and Katsuhito all hugging her and congratulating her in turns. "Achika... Nobuyuki... and you have to be Katsuhito, that voice only fits you." They each smiled as they were named, and then started deluging her with questions.

For a moment, though, Tenchi frowned, and then waved Washu over, while Kei was distracted by his parents. "Aunt... Why did her eyes change color like that?" he asked softly. Washu frowned for a moment, with a considering look in her eyes.

"I'm not really sure yet, Tenchi. I think that it was a side effect of the operation. You see, Kei was blind for two reasons. There was an abnormality in her optic nerve, and a chemical imbalance in her iris. Alone, she would have had semi-normal vision, though she would have required powerful corrective glasses, but together, they were too much for her body to compensate for. When I performed the operation, my goal was to remove the abnormality, which I succeeded in doing. When we did, for some reason the imbalance normalized itself." She paused a moment to be sure that he was following what she was saying. He nodded; she had explained as much before.

"It's possible that the teal color that we had always seen was actually a result of the imbalance; once that was gone, they reverted to their true color," she finished.

"So, she never really had teal eyes; they were golden the entire time, but hidden by that imbalance?" he asked. Washu nodded.

"Like I said, it's a possibility. I need to run some more tests to be certain," she said. "If you ask me, I think that they kind of fit her personality. Bright, sparkling, and a bit mischievous." Tenchi nodded slowly, and looked at Kei. She was smiling and laughing, looking around in wondrous disbelief. For a moment, her gaze locked on to him, and she smiled warmly and a little secretively; the drawing that he'd done in class flicked into his mind for a moment. Except for hair style and color, he realized that they did resemble each other now; sisters, or perhaps a mother and daughter. He smiled back at her, before her attention was pulled back away. Tenchi sighed, and glanced at his sketch book again. Who was she? And what was happening to his dreams?

What was happening to him?

  


Ayeka nodded, as Ryou-oh came to rest in the lake, and activated the cloak. There was a house all but on top of the small pond, but her scans hadn't picked anybody up inside, so she had decided to land there. Unfortunately, tree-ships had to make planet-fall in fresh water; the trees required it. That was the one true disadvantage to the great ships. Beside that, they were very good, very dependable star cruisers.

"Powered down, Princess Ayeka," confirmed Azaka.

"Very good. Azaka, Kamadake, we will return in two earth standard days. Stay with the ship, and respond immediately if you pick up a distress signal from either my or Sasami's beacons," she ordered them. 

"Yes, your highness."

"Are you sure that you should be doing this, your highness?" asked Kamadake. She smiled fondly at the guardian, and lightly touched the floating robot.

"How can I learn about my subjects if I do not go among them? In order to rule them justly, I must understand how they live; I can not judge them according to how I live," she said, before turning to Sasami. "Are you ready to go?" she asked. Sasami nodded.

"Yep!" They turned to leave, but paused, as a beep went off.

"Incoming message, Princess Ayeka. Would you like to view it?" asked Azaka. Ayeka frowned.

"Do not allow them to see or hear me until I give the order," she told them. 

"I do not believe that will be a problem, your highness. It appears to be a recording," said Kamadake. She nodded.

"Put it on, then," she said. A viewscreen opened, and a woman in her late thirties appeared. She had her long, raven black hair tied back into a single, long ponytail. Ayeka blinked; she appeared human, but her facial structure seemed partly Juraian

"Princess Ayeka, Princess Sasami. My name is Achika Masaki, and if you are receiving this as I hope, you have landed in the lake. I am sorry that I could not be there in person, but there has been an emergency, and I had to leave. This will sound strange, but you both are old friends. I promise that I will explain everything to you as soon as I get back; it should be no more than a few hours after you arrive, if that. Please, I ask that you await us in my home; feel free to use anything you need. It is very important that we meet. There are also two Galaxy Police officers there; they should be able to answer some, if not all of your questions." She paused a moment, and smiled. "I realize that this will all be hard to believe, but please, I need you to trust me." She smiled again, and then the message ended. Ayeka looked at Sasami.

"Did she look like one of the people in your dream?" she asked. Sasami frowned.

"She... no, but she... somehow, she seemed familiar," she said. Then she looked at her. "She looked gentle... Could it hurt to at least find out what she meant?" she asked.

"And how did she know our names, much less that we would be landing here?" mused Ayeka. Frowning, she looked at the Guardians. "Please bring up a view of the house." A moment later, it came up, and Sasami gasped.

"That's the house Ayeka! The house I saw in my dream! I'm sure of it!" she exclaimed. Ayeka frowned again.

"I do not like this, Sasami. I want to know how they knew we were coming, when we ourselves did not know until barely two and a half days ago," she said, looking at the image before them. The house seemed normal enough, yet her mind ticked off the number of things that it would have had to have in just in order to monitor for their landing, and send that message. It was an impressive list of items.

"Sis, I just have this feeling. It's so strong, I'm just sure that we can trust her. Something is bringing us here, and we... we have to believe her!" she said. Ayeka studied her for a moment.

"Is this really so important to you that we look, Sasami?" she asked finally, softly.

"Yes, Ayeka. I just..." She trailed off, unable to find the right words. Ayeka chewed on her lower lip for a moment.

"Azaka, Kamadake. Scout out the house," she said finally.

"Yes Ma'am!" The guardians vanished from the bridge.

"I just know we're doing the right thing, Ayeka. How much of a chance that I would point right to the house that I saw unless we were meant to come here?" asked Sasami. Ayeka favored her with a slight smile.

"We shall see, if it is safe," she replied, yet now that she was thinking about it, she too began to notice a certain... pull, a longing that seemed to come from the house. After a few moments, the Guardians returned to the ship.

"The scouting has been completed. No traps detected," began Azaka.

"Two non-human life forms that did not show up on ship scans are inside. A null field extends ten feet from the house in all directions, deflecting our scans," interjected Kamadake.

"Both life-forms had Galaxy Police PDT's," Azaka finished. 

"PDT's? What are those?" asked Sasami, looking at Ayeka.

"All Galaxy Police officers of detective or higher rank are implanted with Personal Data Transmitters. This is so that if they are deep under cover, or lost in space, they can be tracked, or if they are killed, there is always identification," she said, before glancing at the Guardians. "Can you confirm their ID codes?" Azaka's eye glowed for a moment.

"Detective First Class Kiyone Makibi and Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu ID codes confirmed. Currently stationed Gamma Quadrant outpost aboard the Ranger-class cruiser Yagami. Both are on one week leave of absence," he replied. Ayeka nodded.

"And somehow they too come to this place," she mused. "Very well then, as it seems this Achika spoke the truth, we shall go in and look for ourselves." Sasami smiled at her broadly. "BUT! If I say that we need to leave, I want you to promise me that you will without any argument, ok?" she said, squatting down so that they were eye to eye. Sasami lost some of her smile, and nodded.

"I promise you, Ayeka," she said. Ayeka nodded, and rose, pausing a moment to adjust the wide silver broach that hid most of her scar. "Guardians, transport us to the front door."

  


Kiyone looked up as the door to the Masaki house slid open, and squirmed slightly uncomfortably. Washu had lead them to the house, and filled in some information: who she was, how she'd known they were there. Unfortunately, she had left most of the more important questions, like what she'd meant by about them living there in another life, unanswered. Then she had had to excuse herself, explaining that she had to get to the hospital in order to perform an operation on a blind girl. The other family members had appeared too; she had found herself liking Achika immediately, and something had compelled her not to let Nobuyuki too close, though he was very polite. When Katsuhito had come in and introduced himself, another name had been on the very tip of her tongue; she found herself still trying to remember it.

Between all the apologies for going in and out so much, Kiyone had gathered that Achika and Nobuyuki's son had been injured. They were waiting for him to wake because he apparently played an important part in what was going to happen. She sighed, and hoped that who ever came in would be able to tell them something more. Mihoshi was out cold on the couch next to her, snoring softly. Setting down her tea cup, Kiyone looked up as the first of them came in, and felt her jaw drop.

It was about seven feet tall; a log with the name Azaka painted in blue under a single, blue electronic eye. A second log entered, identical to the first save that this one's name was Kamadake, and it's eye and name were red. Kiyone very, very slowly nudged Mihoshi.

"Wake up!" she hissed, as the Guardians of Jurai scanned the room. If they were there, then only one person could be coming. Mihoshi snorted drowsily, and sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Wha... I was just dreaming that we were after a criminal..." she mumbled. Kiyone hauled her up to her feet.

"Quiet! Don't you recognize them you bubble head??" she asked softly. Mihoshi looked at the floating logs, and blinked.

"Huh? But I thought that they were the Princess Ayeka's royal guards..." For once, that statement sank in, and Mihoshi stood at stiff attention. The Guardians finished their scan, and then floated apart, revealing the hall behind them, and the two girls there.

The first of the pair was the taller, and obviously older by a bit of the pair. Her eyes were a dark red that scanned the room every bit as carefully as the Guardians had; a long, thick braid of lavender hair almost touched the floor. She wore a silver silken tunic, with a wide sash of crimson about her waist. A silver broach with a huge, blue stone encircled her throat, hiding all but a small bit of a thick, slashing scar. Even if she hadn't have seen her on the vidbytes, Kiyone would have known that she was Ayeka from just looking at her.

To her side stood a shorter girl with freckles and large pink eyes. Her hair, which was pulled into a pair of ponytails, was blue like the sky, and she was wearing a pink and blue tunic. She was smiling from ear to ear, and looking around herself in excitement. Sasami, second in line for the royal throne of Jurai. Kiyone felt her eye begin to twitch, as she bowed deeply to them. Mihoshi followed suit somewhat less smoothly. Of all of the Juraians that might have come, why, oh WHY! did it have to be these two! Ayeka made a soothing gesture.

"You may rise. I assume you are Detectives Kiyone and Mihoshi?" asked Ayeka. They straightened, as Kiyone nodded.

"Your Highness, I'm not really sure how to explain our presence here on Earth. I realize that it has been declared a preserve by Jurai, but-" Ayeka shook her head, and smiled slightly.

"It is of no matter. Sasami thinks that we were brought here for some purpose; perhaps you were as well," she said calmly, before looking at her sister. "Did you see them in your dream?" Sasami looked at them closely, and then abruptly grinned.

"Yes, I'm sure of it!" she exclaimed. Kiyone and Mihoshi looked at each other.

"Begging your pardon, but... what dream?" asked Kiyone. Ayeka smiled slightly, and nodded at her sister.

"It is yours to tell, Sasami, as it was your dream," she said. Sasami grinned.

"Well, I had this dream where I saw this house, and me, and my sister, and you two, a boy, and two other girls there. And we... The only way to put it is that we knew each other. We were friends," she said, somehow grinning even wider than before. Kiyone looked at Mihoshi again.

"The family that owns this house - I'm not entirely sure of the entire story, but their son, Tenchi, was hurt, which is why they aren't here at the moment. There's a picture of him there, on the wall," she said slowly, pointing. Sasami looked, and nodded.

"That's him," she said, looking at Ayeka. "See, I knew that we were supposed to come here!" The princess slowly nodded.

"So it would seem," she said. Smiling, she sat down on the couch, and gestured for them to join her. "I take it, then, that you have met the rest of the family?" she asked.

"Only for a few minutes at a time; they've been running back and forth from the hospital and here," answered Kiyone. "Achika said that they were pretty sure they would all be back by this evening."

"And you said that their son - Tenchi? - was hurt? That only leaves two others from Sasami's dream," she said, and Kiyone nodded.

"Maybe only one; when we landed, we were met by Washu," she told them. Ayeka blinked in surprise.

"As in the Washu that was exiled seven hundred years ago by the Science Academy? She is here as well?" she asked. Kiyone nodded again.

"She told us that once everybody was here, she would explain everything."

"This," said Ayeka, frowning thoughtfully, "is becoming the most unusual vacation. Tell me, have you had the feeling that you have been here before? Or that it was familiar?" she asked.

"Almost since Mihoshi and I were assigned to this area," answered Kiyone smiling slightly. "Have you?" Ayeka studied her for a moment, before nodding slightly.

"Yes. When Sasami and I first came into the house, it was like I had been here before. I shall be most interested in what Ms. Washu, and Ms. Masaki have to say."

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	3. Chapter 3: Message in a Crystal

What Might Have Been Chapter Three: Message in a Crystal

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

Kei smiled as Nobuyuki turned into the drive, and pulled to a stop. Washu had made arrangements with her foster parents for her to stay with Tenchi's family for a few weeks, so that Washu could keep a close monitor on her. On the drive back from the hospital, she had asked Tenchi if he would walk her up the steps so that she could begin to find out what she'd been missing. Tenchi pulled the door open, and then got out of the mini-van with her. Nobuyuki stuck his head out the window, grinning, and said, "Enjoy your walk up the steps, Kei, Tenchi. We'll see you when you reach the house," before driving the rest of the way up the hillside. Kei smiled again, and then started looking around herself - it still seemed slightly unreal to her... She was LOOKING around herself, instead of hearing, or feeling, or smelling. She was seeing what was there, and it wasn't in a dream. 

She couldn't decide what to see first, and for every new sight - and every sight was new, to her - a thousand questions came to mind. Like, what were those things on the trees, that swayed gently in the wind and made a rustling sound - and what color were they? What was color? She had never known anything except for the cold darkness, and now everything sprang at her in thousands of different shades; she had no names for them. And what about those flowers over there? She knew what they smelled like, but now she could see that there were many different kinds of them, and that they had different shapes and sizes. She turned to Tenchi, laughing.

"I never imagined it would really be this beautiful, Tenchi," she said, walking up to a tree and lightly touching it. "How can I possibly try to explain what it's like? I knew what a tree felt like, what it sounded and smelled like. I knew that some were covered in something rough, and others were somewhat smoother. I knew that if the day was hot, if I sat under one, it would be cooler, but never what it looked like until now. I could guess, I could imagine, but what I can see isn't what I pictured." She looked up at the sky, and laughed again. "The moon is so bright, it seems strange that I really couldn't see it; it looks bright enough to pierce any darkness, even that of blindness. And the stars! They're so far off, so free, so... I never understood what people meant when they said that something had to be seen to be believed." She looked back at him, and smiled. "Everything is so new now... It's as though I were touching something for the first time, only now I'm touching it with my eyes, instead of my hands." Tenchi smiled at her.

"I'm happy for you Kei. I'm glad that Aunt was able to do it," he said softly. She laughed, and hugged him tightly.

"It wouldn't have happened, if not for you. I don't know how to thank you," she said, and Tenchi blinked.

"Huh?" he asked. Kei smiled at him softly. He could be so naive at times that it was almost painful. Then again, she was already starting to get an idea of just how much she had to learn now that she had her sight.

"Think about it Tenchi. Would I have ever met Dr. Washu if I hadn't met you?" she asked. Tenchi looked at her.

"Of course you would have," he said, and Kei smiled again. If nothing else, he never ran out of optimism.

"Maybe. But when? And would she have helped me? When it comes down to it, I am just a foster child. Yes, my foster parents care for me, but they care just the same for every child that come through their home, and even you have to admit that they are the exception, not the rule. If not for you, would it have ever happened, Tenchi? Maybe, but we both know probably not," she said quietly, embracing him and looking back up at the stars. Tenchi opened his mouth to speak, and she lightly laid two fingers over his lips to stop him. He sighed quietly, and remained silent.

"You know, I used to dream about what it might be like to see, when I was very, very young. I had kind of an idea from what people described and from what I could feel. I mean, I didn't know what the colors were, or that the sky could possibly be so... huge! But I had something of an idea. Yet, when I finally got my eyes open all the way, and they finally came into focus for the first time, I realized that never in my wildest dreams had I ever come close to the truth. Because, in my dreams, I... never saw..." She trailed off, as her throat started to choke up on her, and she began to feel some tears on her cheeks. She couldn't say it aloud. In her dreams, she'd never seen him. And as sorry as he'd looked, with that IV in his arm and his head wound in bandages almost as heavily as hers had been, it'd been all she could do not to burst into tears right that moment. He had given her a greater gift than she could have ever hoped for.

Tenchi lightly touched her cheek, catching one of the tears, and smiled at her. "I know, Kei. Maybe I can't imagine what it was like, to not be able to see, but I know what you're feeling. It's on your face, and in your eyes... I know," he told her quietly. She looked at him, smiling and hugging him again. He didn't understand what had her almost bawling, not entirely, anyway, but for now that was fine with her. It was more important that he was with her to listen. He smiled, and lightly put his arm around her waist; they began to walk up the path.

"It feels... weird to walk. I'm used to sensing steps and things, not seeing them," she said, leaning against him slightly so that she didn't lose her balance. He grinned, and looked at her.

"It will take a little practice. Remember? Aunt Washu told you that your equilibrium might be off for a couple of days as you readjust. Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he told her, and she laughed.

"Oh, now I really feel safe!" she said, grinning. And snuggling a little closer. They worked their way up the hill, Tenchi answering the questions that poured out of her in a torrent. They were about half-way up when she heard a rustle to the side, and blinked. "Hey, what was that?" she asked? Tenchi looked around.

"What? I didn't hear anything," he told her. She pointed at some bushes that were a little off the path.

"Some rustling." She cocked her head to listen as it she heard it again, and nodded. "There it is again, it's definitely coming from those bushes," she told him. Tenchi grinned, and moved toward the bushes.

"Hello? Anybody here? Anybody making rustling noises and planning on jumping out and attacking us?" he called. Kei stifled a laugh as he looked at her. "See, Kei? There's nothing here!" he said, as he turned back toward the bushes. Then he abruptly shouted in surprise, and stumbled backwards to land flat on his back. Kei gave up, and started laughing.

"Nothing, eh?" she said, before blinking. Sitting on his chest, and looking surprised to be there, was a fuzzy little creature with two huge golden eyes and what looked like a thin red gem set in her forehead. She carefully bent down, laughing in delight, and picked her up - in a rear corner of her mind, she wondered how she knew the creature was a she. It looked at her for a moment.

"Miya?" Tenchi blinked, as he sat up, looking at her and the furball.

"She's so cute, but what is she?" she asked him, and the little critter miyaed again.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it. At first I thought it was a cat, but it looks like it's half-rabbit," he told her. She grinned.

"She's a cabbit!" she exclaimed, as she scratched her between the ears. The tiny creature purred in contentment, and she laughed in delight. "What do you suppose we should name her?" Tenchi blinked at her.

"You're going to keep her - how do you know that it's even a her?" he asked her. Kei grinned at him wryly, and set the cabbit on her shoulder. The furball squirmed for a moment, and then settled in, miyaing happily. 

"Women's intuition," she told him. "And why not keep her, she doesn't belong to anybody." Tenchi grinned.

"Now THAT is a prime example of female logic," he laughed. Kei gave him a flat look, and he grinned. "Not that male logic has a chance of ever out showing female logic," he said, before his eyes turned inward briefly. "Ok, a name... How about Ryo-Ohki?" he suggested suddenly. The little furball miyaed loudly at that. Kei blinked, and looked at her, grinning.

"Do you like that name?" she asked, tickling her on the chin.

"MIYA!"

"Ryo-Ohki it is, then!" laughed Kei, as Tenchi stood up, dusting himself off. He looked at the cabbit, and grinned.

"Cute little thing. But where do you come from, huh?" Ryo-Ohki just looked at him, and Kei smiled. Tenchi laughed, looking at the two of them. "Well, you two look like you were made for each other, Kei." She laughed, and her new pet miyaed happily.

"Now I've gotten my sight, and a new friend. This really is the best day of my life, Tenchi. Come on, we better get up to your house before your parents think that we've eloped or something," she told him, taking hold of his arm. Tenchi grinned, and they started walking again.

"So, what do you suppose she eats?"

  


As they heard a vehicle pull up, Ayeka and Kiyone looked at each other. As they had been talking, they'd begun to notice an almost disturbing tendency to know things about each other. Like when Mihoshi had abruptly asked Sasami for a cup of tea, and without thinking both Ayeka and Kiyone had asked her for some too. Sasami had made the tea, and it hadn't been until she had set down the tray before them and started to pass out the cups that they had blinked, and stared at each other. What had really caught Ayeka off guard a couple minutes later was, how did Sasami even know where to find the tea and tea pot in the first place?

"That must be them now," said Kiyone, smiling slightly and standing. She gave the softly snoring Mihoshi a push as Ayeka nodded, and shook Sasami awake. Both woke up, looking around and rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"What's going on?" asked Sasami sleepily. Ayeka smiled at her slightly, as she picked up the silver broach from the table, and refastened it around her neck. She'd taken it off a few hours ago; seeing that Kiyone had been embarrassed, she had tried to relax her by telling her she didn't mind if she asked about the scar. She explained that she only wore the broach among people that didn't know her very well, so that they wouldn't be uncomfortable seeing it. She herself had long since come to terms with it.

As the hallway light came on, Ayeka and Kiyone turned to it. The first to come through the doorway was the young woman from the message - Achika. She broke into a wide smile as she saw the two princesses, and walked over. "Ayeka, Sasami, you really did arrive! And Kiyone and Mihoshi, I really must apologize again for not being here in person - to all of you! With Tenchi and Kei... Gah!" Ayeka made a calming gesture.

"Do not be concerned; I believe that Miss Kiyone mentioned that your son had been injured? I do not mind waiting when there are more important matters in concern. However, I must confess a bit of confusion as to how you seem to know Sasami and myself," she said, smiling slightly. Achika winced.

"As I said on the message, I can explain everything once we're all here - Tenchi is walking Kei up here, this is only the first day that she's been able to see, and..." Abruptly she laughed. "I must sound like a mad woman. Kei was born blind, you see. Washu performed an operation on her two days ago to restore her vision, and the bandages were just taken off tonight - Kei wanted to wait for Tenchi to wake up. He injured himself a couple days ago as well, and only just came around. Kei asked him to walk her up the steps to the shrine so that she could start to see what she'd been missing," explained the woman, and Ayeka nodded. She thought that she'd understood all that. Beside her, Sasami giggled.

"How romantic!" she exclaimed, and Achika grinned.

"He takes after his father," she said, before laughing. "I know that this is confusing, but it's good to see you all again," she told them, smiling. Behind her, two men came into the room, one an elderly gentleman, and the other a man of like age with Achika. Achika nodded to them, saying, "My husband, Nobuyuki, and my father, Katsuhito... Or Yosho, as he was named on Jurai." Ayeka felt her jaw drop; beside her, Kiyone blinked and nodded slightly. The wrinkled, weathered-faced old man bowed.

"Y... Yosho?!? But he can't!" exclaimed Ayeka, before a bit of anger flared in her. Was THIS what she'd been brought here for? This... sham?!? "How dare you mock us with -" Ayeka abruptly cut off as Katsuhito withdrew a short, wooden rod from his robes, and held it out before him. She stared at it in shock. "That is sword Tenchi, Yosho's sword. How did you..." The man was silent a moment, and then spoke. 

"It is said that this sword was made three times, once for each point of the leaves of the holy tree Tsunami. The first was carved by a priest, and dipped in the tears of a phoenix. The second was carved by a beggar, and dipped in the blood of a dragon that died saving Jurai. The third, and last, was found, sealed in a crystal of amber made of Tsunami's sap. When the three swords were placed on one of her leaves, they joined, and became one," he said. Abruptly, the blade flared to life, and Ayeka bowed her head. There could be no doubt. Only the royal family knew that story, and only Yosho had had the strength in the Jurai Power to use the sword.

"Yes. You are Yosho," she said reluctantly. "I humbly ask forgiveness for -" She paused, as Achika and Yosho shook their heads. 

"You couldn't have been expected to believe us without proof," said Achika, and her father nodded, as the blade vanished. Another thought occurred to Ayeka.

"Are you then going to return to Jurai, Lord Yosho, to claim the throne?" she asked quietly. He laughed, and Ayeka frowned, thinking he was mocking her. He shook his head.

"No, Princess Ayeka - I have no wish to rule," he said, smiling warmly. She let out a breath that she hadn't been aware she was holding. 

"Still, then, the question remains - why were we... err, summoned here, so to speak," she said after a moment.

"Or how we all seem so... familiar to each other," added Kiyone, and Ayeka nodded her agreement. Achika sighed briefly.

"Washu could explain it better than me, but the short version of it is that you are picking up a sort of... For lack of a better description, experience leakage. Washu called it multi-dimensional temporal residue," she said. Achika looked around, and then picked up two crystals that were sitting on the table. "Think of it like this. Each of these is the exact same universe, except for one thing. In fact, they are so much alike that the Ayeka from this universe -" she lifted one crystal higher "- can sense some of what is happening to the Ayeka in this universe," she finished, lifting the other.

"Essentially correct, except that I called - rather, my double called it multi-temporal dimensional residue, not the other way around," said a short, young-seeming girl with a wild mane of spiky, hot pink hair, as she entered the room. She was carrying a small black box in one hand, and a crystal in the other. "Where are those two Ach? A constipated Talorian snail would have been up here by now!" Achika laughed softly.

"Give them their time, Washu. We may take sight for granted, but for Kei, everything will be new. And they both will face some difficult news once they arrive," she soothed. Ayeka smiled slightly. She was already, to her surprise, finding herself quite liking the other woman. There was - as Sasami had pointed out - something about her that was simply trustable. "Is there anything that we could get you while you wait, or any other questions?" she asked. Kiyone frowned a moment, and then slowly spoke.

"Ayeka and Sasami seemed... familiar. So do Nobuyuki... and Yosho and Washu. But this entire time, I haven't sensed that about you, and I'm too much of a detective to think that's a coincidence, not as well as you seem to know us." Achika nodded slightly, sighing.

"You're right, I..." She paused, as they heard the door slide open, followed a moment later by, "We're home!" Achika sighed again. "I'll answer that in just a moment," she said, before raising her voice slightly. "Can you two come into the living room?" There were a few soft sounds of shoes being removed; some feminine laughter followed by a somewhat deeper man's laugh. Achika's momentary agitation vanished, and she smiled warmly as a tall young man with bandages wrapped around his head came in, his arm around the waist of a shorter young woman. Ayeka blinked slightly as the light flashed off her eyes; they were a bright golden, and deep in the back of her mind a memory tickled slightly. On the girl's shoulder - much to Ayeka's surprise - was a cabbit, and a fairly young one at that. But she was drawn back to the girl's eyes. Why did those golden eyes gnaw at her so strongly all of a sudden? Where had she seen them before?

Both of them blinked in surprise as they saw Ayeka and the others, and then blushed. Tenchi - uneasily she realized that she hadn't matched his face to the picture on the wall, she'd just known - dropping his arm from the girl's - Kei, Ayeka surmised - waist. The two bowed deeply in unison.

"I didn't realize that we had guests, mother, father, or we wouldn't have taken so long in getting back," said Tenchi, and right on top of him, Kei said, "I must look like I've just stepped in out of a windstorm," while she made an attempt to straighten her shirt. The cabbit miyaed in curiosity, as Sasami laughed.

"So Ryo-Ohki did come to Kei," murmured Achika. Ayeka glanced at her; she was smiling in a slightly relieved way, before nodding slightly. Then Ayeka noticed Tenchi looking at them, something akin to recognition in his eyes. He knows us too, she thought to herself. That's why we had to wait for them. Her suspicion was confirmed a moment later as Sasami tugged on her sleeve and whispered, "That really is the boy in the dream." Achika cleared her throat.

"Tenchi, Kei, these are Ayeka, Sasami, Kiyone and Mihoshi. They are... old friends," she said. Ayeka wondered if she had deliberately left out their titles and ranks. Achika turned to them. "And this is Tenchi, my son, and Kei, who Washu performed the operation on. She and Tenchi," she said, with a sudden, slightly mischievous grin, "are... close." Tenchi blushed.

"Mom!" he groaned, and then grunted as Kei elbowed him in the ribs, grinning.

"Are you saying that it's not a good thing to be close to me?" she asked, with mock indignation. Tenchi grinned slightly.

"It depends on how hard you intend to hit me with your elbow," he deadpanned. Ayeka laughed softly along with the others, as Kei gave him a malevolent little smirk.

"Just you wait, Tenchi, just you wait," she said, only spoiling the threat by laughing. Achika chuckled, before sighing.

"Now that we're all here, if you could all sit down, I'll... try, at least, to explain," she said. Tenchi and Kei exchanged confused looks, but sat down on the couch with Ayeka and Sasami. Her sister grinned, and waved at the cabbit; the little furball miyaed and hopped over to her shoulder. Washu set the box down on the ground, and stood the crystal on end. It began to float, spinning slowly in thin air.

"The projector is all set up Achika. I'll start it when you're ready," said the scientist, raising her hands. Tenchi and Kei's eyes nearly popped out of their heads as a keyboard suddenly appeared in thin air before her; Ayeka filed that away mentally. Whatever they were about to find out, Tenchi and Kei had never been given any hints of it before now. Achika nodded, and sighed again.

"I... guess that the best place to start is nearly twenty years ago, while Nobuyuki and I were still in school. The week before our school trip to Tokyo, two girls transferred in to all of my classes." She nodded to Washu, and she typed on the keyboard for a moment. The crystal began to spin faster, and suddenly above it a hologram appeared. Ayeka started, as she saw herself, in a black dress with white trimming step into it. Yet, that in itself wasn't all that had her eyes popping; it was the absence of the thick, slashing scar that caught her off guard, because that Ayeka's chin and neck was pale, pure and unbroken skin. On the hologram she stepped the rest of the way into the room it depicted, to be followed by a second woman of like age, but with golden eyes and spiky cyan-silver hair. Memory stirred deep within, but she pushed it down for now.

"We also gained a new teacher -" Mihoshi followed the golden eyed girl, "- and a new janitor's assistant that was assigned to the section of the school where our classes were." Kiyone made a strangled sound as, on the hologram, she appeared in overalls and glasses, and mopping the floor. "And outside the school, a little girl and a young man started appearing during gym class." On the hologram, Sasami tossed a volley ball to somebody behind the viewpoint, while Tenchi peeked out from behind some bushes. Achika sighed, as Washu shut down the hologram.

"Small pieces, and not even a puzzle to me, then. The only two things that I recall thinking of as odd was Sasami being at the school, and not in class, and that Ryoko and Ayeka came to stay with father and I - they said that their home were too far from the school. But my home was almost outside the school's range. It's a long bus trip, as Tenchi and I both know," she said, grinning slightly. Tenchi gave a confused nod. "Small pieces, but sometimes I still wonder how I could have been so blind..." Kiyone frowned.

"Ok, assuming that we were all there... Why? And how? Twenty years ago, I was still fighting with my sisters for space at home on Taras Seven," she said. Achika nodded, and Washu activated the hologram again. This time, the Galaxy Police Head Quarters appeared.

"Jump ahead twenty years, to the GP HQ. A... creature that had been imprisoned one hundred years before escapes, destroying the headquarters in the process. Kiyone, what do you know about the criminal known as 'Kain?'" she asked. Kiyone started.

"Class A Criminal codenamed Kain. Destroyed planets, several armadas, and I'm not entirely sure of what all else. He was captured through a joint effort of the Galaxy Police and the Juraian Emperor, and permanently imprisoned in the Galaxy Police subspace net. At least, the imprisonment is supposed to be permanent," she said, as the station was... All that Ayeka could say was that it was unmade. A huge black blob appeared, with some strange sort of three-eyed mask for a face. It streaked away, as Achika nodded.

"Kain escaped, and came to Earth - Earth of the past, his goal to kill my father and I. His kind, you see, hate the Jurai Power, and at the time, the most powerful sources of it were father and myself." Kain streaked past a Galaxy Police patrol ship - Ayeka would have wagered the throne that it was Kiyone and Mihoshi's - and splashed into Earth's atmosphere, vanishing. "This is where things get a little hard to understand," said Achika, picking up the crystals again. "Remember what I was saying about the two, almost identical universes?" Except for Tenchi and Kei, they nodded. Achika set one crystal on the table.

"In this universe, our universe, you all came here because you were... drawn here, for lack of a better description. You felt an instinct that, in the end, drew you here, to this house," she said, before hiding the crystal, and setting down the other. "But in this universe, one by one, you each came here because of an almost unbelievable set of circumstances." The hologram was started again, with an image of the golden eyed woman. "This is Ryoko. She is... would have been a Space Pirate. Mihoshi stumbled across her while out on patrol, and after a short fight, their ships collided, and fell here, to Earth. Tenchi, on his way to school, saw the crash, and went to see what happened." The image changed, and Tenchi sucked in a startled breath.

"No way! But... That's what I was drawing when..." He lightly touched the bandages around his head, and Achika nodded, producing a sketch book and flipping it open. Ayeka blinked. The hologram and the drawing were identical, save for a few splatters of blood on the drawing.

"Of all of us, Tenchi will pick up the strongest... feelings, because he was at the center of all that happened. After Ryoko and Mihoshi, Ayeka came, when Mihoshi activated her emergency beacon. Sasami came looking for Ayeka, then Washu was released from her prison, and last but not least, Kiyone was sent after Mihoshi. One by one, you each came, and ended up staying here," Achika told them. Ayeka blinked, as something fell into place.

"There's no Ryoko here. When Kain went back, he changed something, and so here she... This is a split timeline, isn't it? That's what you're trying to tell us," she said. There was an answer, glimmering just out of sight now, if only she could reach out and grab it. Achika smiled sadly.

"Kain went back to kill my father and I, but Washu - their Washu - was able to send them back in time, and together, they stopped him. Ryoko, Ayeka, and Tenchi were able to get Nobuyuki and I away from Kain, and Kiyone used the Dimensional Cannon to deal the final blow," she said, before sighing. "But Kain understood that, with even one string cut, they would have failed."

"They returned to their time, but almost before she had landed, Ryoko fell extremely ill," said Washu. "My counterpart discovered, with a little bit of backtracking, that it was because she no longer existed in that world before that point in time. Kain sent... a miasma of himself to kill her in that time. And to kill Ayeka and Kiyone too, if it could before it dissipated. But because Ryoko was in the past when it killed her younger self, and thus, outside of the time stream, she wasn't annihilated. However, as soon as she returned to her own time, she became a paradox - she existed, but couldn't exist, because she technically had never been." Ayeka's eyes suddenly widened. Technically had never been... the other Ayeka had never had the scar, either.

"I know where she was killed - where the miasma killed her!" she exclaimed. Achika and Washu blinked at her.

"Where? How?" asked Achika. "Washu could never figure out where."

"Can you bring up the picture of Ayeka... Err, me... Oh drat, this is going to be confusing. Can you please bring up the image of their me?" she asked. Washu nodded, and a moment later there was a simple image of herself floating there. Ayeka unclasped the broach; Tenchi and Kei both winced, and Achika gasped softly. Ayeka lightly touched the scar. "She does not have this - it never happened to her." Ayeka shivered as she made herself remember. "I was playing - I was very young - and met a young girl my age. She had cyan hair-" the blob appeared, falling on the little girl "- golden eyes -" the girl's eyes screamed in pain as it attacked her "- and a something... tore... her apart. And after it finished with her, it came after me, and did this," she finished, as she lightly traced the scar's path. Ayeka abruptly realized that she was shaking, and forced herself to calm down. That was long ago, and she... she was with friends, she knew, even if she wasn't entirely sure how she knew.

Achika smiled at her comfortingly, and then looked at Washu. The scientist nodded at her. "It's likely; their Ayeka had already met Ryoko a number of times before they came to Earth, and the miasma would have been drawn to the pair of them even more strongly than just one alone," she said.

"Then that's where we have to search," answered Achika. Kiyone cleared her throat.

"Ahh... Search for what?" she asked. Achika sighed.

"When Ryoko went back to her time, she became a paradox. A very powerful paradox, and between her and the alternate timeline - us - reality is slowly being torn apart. It's like a black hole - the longer it exists, the bigger and stronger it becomes, and the faster it grows," she said.

"The Darkspace - maybe that's what she means, Ayeka!" said Sasami. Ayeka nodded as Achika looked at her.

"Darkspace?" she asked. Ayeka nodded.

"It's a region of space where things are simply... being unmade. My mother said that it first became apparent a few months after I was attacked. Attempts have been made to study it, but anything that enters it simply vanishes. Energy, ships, it is the same, as if they had never existed. At first, it only grew a few hundred, and then a few thousand kilometers a year, but now it's almost grown big enough to threaten Jurai itself," she said.

"That would be the most likely manifestation," agreed Washu. "And I'd bet my last study sample that it's exact origin was on the point where Ryoko died," she finished. Achika nodded.

"So in other words, we're going to prevent this paradox from unmaking the universe?" said Kiyone.

"Partly. But we also have to stop Kain from escaping in this timeline," answered Washu, as she produced a small black cube. "My counterpart studied the data from his escape in their world. This will create a field that will neutralize his power. It needs to be installed on his prison lock within the next five days," she told Kiyone, handing it to her.

"That's what you and Mihoshi need to do. The rest of us will be going back to where Ayeka was describing, and prevent Ryoko from dying," said Achika. "And you two, by far, have the easier job..."

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	4. Chapter 4: Old Fears, New Friends

What Might Have Been Chapter Four: Old Fears, New Friends

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

Tenchi stared at his mother and their guests in a mild state of shock. "But what... how..." Kei glanced at him briefly, and grinned.

"I think what tongue-tied here is trying to ask is how we're supposed to help. But I think I already know - part of it anyway. I'm Ryoko, aren't I - or at least, her replacement?" she asked, as she reached up to scratch Ryo-Ohki between her ears. Achika blinked at her in surprise, but slowly nodded.

"It's something that Washu first suspected - she picked up a sort of resonance that she thinks indicates the residue in you. She'd picked up the same in Tenchi, herself, Nobuyuki and father. And more recently, Tenchi drew Ryoko when he was supposed to be drawing you in art class. Then there's Ryo-Ohki - she's Ryoko's.... I guess that you could call her a pet, but she's more than that," she said. Ryo-Ohki miyaed loudly, and Achika smiled sadly.

"Of course - that was why you seemed so familiar. Your eyes are the same as the girl's - Ryoko? - eyes," said Ayeka, and Achika nodded.

"Ryoko was a sort of focal point - where she went, the world followed, usually whether it wanted to or not. She was supposed to bring you all together, but was killed well before she could do that. So, Kei was born in her place," said Washu. They looked at Kei, and she blushed a little under the scrutiny. Tenchi admitted to himself that he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he lightly placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze to let her know he was with her. Kei looked at him and smiled.

"There is still one question you haven't answered," said Kiyone. "Everybody else is... familiar, except for you, Achika." Tenchi frowned as his mother sighed, and then slowly spoke.

"When Kain attacked, Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka did stop him from killing us, and Kiyone did deliver the final blow. But, before we could make our escape, Kain knocked Tenchi out, and... It's difficult to explain. Tenchi-ken landed near me and when I touched it... it awoke a part of me. I saw... among other things, their future. A future that I wasn't a part of. Kiyone delivered the final blow, but, with Tenchi-ken, I was the one that defeated Kain. I expended too much of the Jurai power, though. Oh, I didn't die right then - in their time-line, I didn't pass away until Tenchi was almost five.

"But in this timeline, where Washu was awake, she was able to save my life by blocking off my link to the Jurai energy - it was the back flow of my usage that was killing me, you see. And so, the reason that you don't know me is because they never met me, save for a short time in the past, before the timeline split," Achika finished softly. Tenchi stared at his mother in disbelief, and without wanting to, tried to imagine what growing up without her would have been like. What would he be like? What would his father have been like?

For a moment, the room was silent, in the wake of the grim pronouncement. Then, softly, Ayeka spoke. "I think, then, that I own Miss Washu a debt of gratitude for giving me the chance to meet you. What I can do to help, I will, and not for the sake of the universe. For the sake of a friend." Right beside her, Sasami laughed.

"Sounds like fun!" she exclaimed. Kiyone sighed.

"I've got to be loosing my mind... Who am I kidding? I'm in," she said, before abruptly laughing. "Who cares about promotions? If we don't succeed, there won't be a universe to be promoted in."

"I'll go where ever Kiyone goes!" chimed in Mihoshi, grinning. Kei looked at him, golden eyes sparkling in excitement.

"What do you think Tenchi? Stay here and go on that boring art field trip? Or take a trip through the stars?" she asked, grinning. He abruptly became aware of all their eyes on him, as though they were waiting for his decision. Tenchi sighed, and then laughed weakly, wondering if his... twin in the other universe ever had to do something like this.

"Who could resist a chance to save the universe from a killer blob?"

  


Achika smiled at Tenchi, though inwardly she breathed a long sigh of relief. However much she'd prepared herself for this moment, it was all but impossible to keep from giggling in almost hysterical relief. Years of planning, hoping, and it had all hinged on if they would all agree, on if they would all believe, because they needed all of them to succeed. Washu looked at her and nodded.

"There was one more thing on the crystal that they left with us. A message, for if you all agreed," she said. They quieted down, and looked at the projector as Washu activated it for the last time. Achika smiled faintly. She'd seen it so many times that she could repeat it word for word. The hologram appeared, Tenchi in the middle, with Ayeka and Sasami to his right, and Kiyone and Mihoshi on his left. There was a brief pause, and then Tenchi began to speak.

"I know - we all know, really - how strange this all must seem to you. Believe me, at first, for us, it seemed absolutely crazy. The First and Second Princesses of Jurai, living together with a space pirate, an exiled super genius, and two Galaxy Police officers at a temple in the middle of nowhere at the end of space. Mihoshi said it best when she told Kiyone that 'Things just kind of developed this way.'" They laughed on the recording, and then Tenchi continued. "And life is never boring; we've squared off against intergalactic bounty hunters, ghosts, been tossed through time and space - more than once!

"But as crazy as it was, for everything that should have been absolutely impossible because of who each of us is, nothing could be more natural. We're a family in the most impossible way, but not one of us would change a thing if we could." On the hologram, Ayeka and the others nodded in agreement. "There will be some pretty tough challenges ahead, and all that I can offer is this: You may not know it yet, but you are a family. Ayeka, Sasami, Kiyone, Mihoshi, Ryo-Ohki, Washu and you, Tenchi. I don't know if anybody will come to take Ryoko's place or not, but if you trust each other, you'll find that no matter the situation, you'll always come through together." He fell silent, and their Kiyone spoke up, putting a hand on Mihoshi's shoulder.

"Hey. I know that this one can be a real airhead at times, but... When the chips were down, she came through for me. Don't be afraid to give her a chance, she'll surprise you," she said, grinning slightly. Mihoshi beamed a smile at Kiyone. The hologram's Ayeka cleared her throat.

"I have to admit, I don't know how much alike we'll be, you and I. Ryoko... had more than a slight hand in my youth. With any luck, you won't have made the same mistakes that I did, and still do, from time to time; thinking of myself as more than others simply because of what blood flows in my veins. It's one of several lessons that she has taught me since coming here. What Lord Tenchi says is true... somehow, despite all our differences, we are a family, and what makes that bond so strong is that we know we can depend on one another to be there. Apart, we could do nothing... together, we were unstoppable." She fell silent, and the hologram Sasami spoke.

"Hey! Of all of them, I bet that you're taking all this the best. These guys take a lot of looking after, and they don't make it easy on us!" she laughed, and Achika grinned as their Sasami laughed too. "Don't let them get too serious, Sasami."

"Don't be afraid to take a leap of faith. The others will catch you. If we can find another way to contact you, we will; until then, good luck," said Tenchi. The hologram flickered, and then vanished. Achika looked at them all. Kiyone's eyes were thoughtful; Sasami's smile seemed almost too big for her small, freckled face. Ayeka was looking around as though familiarizing herself with them, and Mihoshi was grinning, looking at Kiyone. Of all of them, though, she was most worried about Tenchi and Kei.

Kei was speaking to Tenchi excitedly, Ryo-Ohki back on her shoulder - Achika made a mental note to get some carrots out of the veggie shed - and Tenchi grinning, nodding now and then, with his arm about her shoulders. But just as she looked at him, he glanced at her. She could see the questions in his eyes, the wonder... and the disappointment. She supposed that she couldn't blame him, after all, this was a lot to take all at once. Had she been in his place, she knew that she would have been a little unhappy all this had been kept from her. Nobuyuki put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking Achika, but we couldn't have told him. There was too much of a chance that today might not come, and then where would we be? At least he could have lived a normal life," he said softly. She squeezed his hand.

"I know. But I still have to wonder," she said, smiling slightly.

"Tenchi is as prepared as he can be. Having known would not have made a difference," said her father, as he joined them. "In fact, it may have only made things harder on him. Having a skill and knowing you must one day use it often makes it too easy to use. Tenchi has always been willing to learn the sword, but never eager to use it." Achika nodded; she'd seen how far Tenchi would go to avoid a fight. Not because he was afraid to fight, but because he didn't want something to come to needless blows.

"This is the real start, and now it's in their hands," said Achika. They both nodded gravely.

"Well, I suppose that I had better start getting dinner ready," said Nobuyuki, after a moment. "With this many, it will take awhile." Achika grinned, and nodded, as she looked at the clock. She blinked; could it really only be six thirty?

"Can I help?" asked Sasami, as she wandered over to their little group. "I don't get the chance very often back home, with all the cooks and helpers and stuff, but I really enjoy cooking." Achika, Nobuyuki and Yosho looked at each other, and laughed.

"Sure! How could I resist such a beautiful young lady's help?" he said, grinning. Sasami laughed, as he led her into the kitchen. Achika looked around again. Kei was talking to Ayeka, and Tenchi with Kiyone and Mihoshi, though every now and then he would glance at Kei as though to be sure she was alright. Achika shook her head, grinning. Already, they looked completely comfortable with each other.

She jumped, as Ryo-Ohki bumped her forehead into her ankle, and grinned, bending to pick up the little furball. "I think that I know something you'll like to eat."

  


Ayeka smiled, as Kei grinned at her. "A princess, eh? We don't really have them here on Earth anymore - well, I suppose that there is England - but for the most part our government is elected," she told her. Ayeka nodded.

"I am the First Princess; I stand first in line to inherit the throne when I come of age. Sasami, being my younger sister, stands Second, and as such we have been trained for it," she said, before glancing briefly toward the kitchen. "There are times when I envy her. The duty is mine, unless something untoward were to happen to me; she has the time to enjoy herself." Kei smiled at her.

"Hey, it's more than I could do. Only thing I've ever been good at is drawing - and keeping Tenchi in line," she laughed. Ayeka blinked in surprise.

"You can draw? But I thought..." She trailed off abruptly, and blushed for being so forward. Kei laughed again.

"I'll show you, if you like," she offered. Ayeka nodded slowly, and Kei smiled, before looking at Tenchi. "Hey, can I borrow your sketch book for a moment?" He nodded, and handed the thick book to her; she flipped it open to a blank page and pulled out the pencil tucked into the binder. Then she frowned a moment. "I did it so long that way that I don't think I can do it this way," she murmured, before closing her eyes, and turning her face toward Ayeka. "May I touch your face for a moment?" she asked abruptly. Ayeka blinked.

"Pardon?" she asked. Kei grinned.

"I know that must sound weird. I need to feel what you look like - I guess that I've drawn blind for so long that I can't do it any other way," she said, grinning again. Ayeka nodded.

"Oh, I think I understand. Certainly," Ayeka told her. She smiled, and then lightly brushed her hand over her face. Ayeka very nearly shivered; Kei's touch was almost too light to feel, yet, it was nearly intimate at the same time. Pulling her hand away, the young woman looked thoughtful for a moment, and then set the pencil down to paper, her eyes still closed. Ayeka watched in growing amazement as her face quickly formed, at first seeming just a bare resemblance and then growing sharper and sharper.

"No matter how many times she's done that for me, I've never gotten used to how well she does it," laughed Tenchi, as he watched Kei work. She glanced at him briefly, though her hand never stopped moving on the paper.

"Hush, you'll throw my concentration. I'm almost done," she scolded him, grinning. Ayeka realized with a start that they had gathered a surprising audience; Achika was watching with a wide smile, Kiyone was staring in surprise and Mihoshi was grinning at them. Kei added a few flecks to her irises, and then smiled, nodding, and opening her eyes. "Even if I do say so myself, not a bad job," she said, grinning and then handing the sketchbook to her. Then she took an abrupt double take at her audience, and blushed.

"I feel like I'm looking into a mirror," said Ayeka softly. She'd seen holo-pictures of herself that were less detailed than this image. Tenchi grinned, and gave Kei's shoulder a squeeze as she blushed again. Ayeka glanced to Tenchi. "Would you mind if I removed this to keep?" she asked him.

"Feel free," he said, smiling. Ayeka carefully removed the page from the book.

"Hey everybody! Dinner's ready!" called Sasami, as she and Nobuyuki pushed a cart laden with sizzling, absolutely wonderful smelling food. Ayeka's stomach rumbled loudly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since before landing. Smiling and carefully folding the drawing to tuck away into her robe, she rose, and joined the others at the table.

  


Tenchi yawned, and idly wondered how he could possibly be tired, after all that he'd been told today. Upon reflection, he realized that that was probably why he was so exhausted. After all, he thought with a wry grin, it wasn't every day that he met four aliens, two of them princesses, found out that he himself was quarter alien, and that the universe would be unmade unless he did something about it. Oh yeah, and his mother and the girl he loved shouldn't exist. Yeah, nothing exhausting about any of that...

That brought Tenchi to a pause; how natural it felt to think that he loved Kei. He realized that he'd never really put too much thought in that direction, yet now that he'd considered it... Tenchi realized that more and more often, he'd come to think in terms of Kei and him, rather than just himself. But it just felt so... He sighed again, as he bee-lined for his room, intending to fall asleep before he'd even gotten through the door. Tenchi figured that his body knew enough to get him into his bed before giving up the ghost.

Stubbornly though, his mind refused to stop thinking. It had been very weird to see himself in that recording, to hear himself talking about them. That Tenchi had sounded at the same time older than him in some ways, but younger in others. There had been a tightness in his eyes, of having done things he'd not wanted to. But there had been a note of enjoyment in his voice when he'd spoken of all they'd done, too.

"Tenchi! Hang on a moment, please," called his mother. He sighed, and took his hand off his doorknob. He'd almost made it... oh well. Achika smiled at him a little sadly. "Do you want to talk about anything? You've been awfully quiet, even compared to usual." After a moment, he nodded.

"Is it really true, what you said about not being alive in that world?" he asked finally. She nodded, sadly.

"Do you remember when you were only four, and I got so sick?" she asked. Tenchi nodded slowly; she'd gone to the hospital and come home on a day that it was snowing. 

"Yeah... I couldn't understand why everybody was so worried," he said. Achika nodded.

"In their world, Washu wasn't released until after most of the girls had already arrived - it was Ryoko that shattered her prison crystal. Here in this world, Washu was awake before you were even born, and as I said earlier, was able to save my life. There... Well, their Washu said that I passed away peacefully," she said quietly. Tenchi wondered how she could talk about it so... calmly. She was talking about her own death!

"What was he like? Their me, I mean," he asked. She blinked, but slowly nodded, speaking.

"Well, for the most part he was a lot like you. Quieter; a lot more shy. You should understand that I didn't spend as much time with him as I did with Ryoko and Ayeka, for the simple fact that it would have been dangerous, both for him and for me. I didn't even know who he was until almost the end," she said. That kind of made sense to him, Tenchi thought. It had always been his mother's charismatic manner that he'd looked at life with, rather than his father's shyness. But if he'd never had his mother growing up... "Don't read into that so much, Tenchi. You have to remember that the two of you have grown up very differently." He started, and then laughed as she seemed to read his mind.

"I know, Mom," he said, grinning slightly. "I'm kinda tired, so I'm going to get some sleep. I have the feeling that tomorrow is going to be a day to remember," he told her, opening the door and slipping through, not bothering to turn on the light. Yawning, he only paused long enough to pull off his shirt before sprawling over the bed, not even getting under the covers. Then he frowned slightly.

"Jeeze... This old mattress is getting kinda lumpy," he mumbled to himself. He noticed that half of his bed seemed to be moving rhythmically up and down at about the same time he heard his mother call, "Oh Tenchi? We're putting Kei in your room tonight, the guest room is full." Half-asleep already, he only nodded and mumbled, "Kei in my room tonight, ok," before starting to doze off again.

Very suddenly though, that sunk in, and settled next to his thought about the mattress getting awfully lumpy, and the sensation that half of it was moving. Very slowly, he turned his head toward the side of the bed that was moving.

And found himself staring into a pair of large, beautiful golden eyes. Kei grinned wryly, and said, "Boo. So, you think that I'm a lumpy mattress now?" Tenchi just sighed, and rolled over on his side, falling asleep with her soft laughter in his ears. He was too tired to give up his bed.

  


Sasami woke at a sharp sob from her sister, and yawned sleepily as she rolled over. "Sis... Wake up Ayeka. Come on, it's just that dream again," she said quietly, as she lightly shook her. The elder princess whimpered in her sleep. Sasami jumped as Kiyone lightly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, and Sasami winced.

"Oh, don't worry Kiyone - I'm used to this. Ayeka has a really bad nightmare - I guess that its from when she got her scar. I just want to wake her up before she wakes up everybody else," she answered, before turning back to Ayeka. She'd started to sweat; usually that meant the nightmare was getting near to the end. "Come on sister... wake up." With a start, Ayeka sat up, looking around wildly and scrabbling to get away from her. Sasami made soothing sounds as she hugged her, and slowly Ayeka calmed. After a moment, she looked at Kiyone, and blushed.

"Oh dear - did I wake you Kiyone? I am sorry, I never thought..." Ayeka trailed off as Kiyone smiled, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it Ayeka. I'm a light sleeper - Mihoshi takes a little watching after. Besides, I know what it's like to have nightmares bad enough to wake you up," she told her. Ayeka slowly nodded.

"If... I may ask, what... were they?" she asked, after a moment. Kiyone smiled a little sadly.

"My family was killed in the food riots on Taras Seven when I was just a little girl; I was the only one that survived. Just before the mobs swept her and the rest of my family away, my mother was able to push me into the Galaxy Police Station. I used to dream of them... a long time ago," she said quietly. 

"Oh... I'm sorry," said Ayeka, bowing her head.

"Don't be. Really, that was a big part of why I joined the Galaxy Police. I always thought that maybe I'd have the chance to keep it from happening to anybody else," answered the detective. Sasami nodded.

"I understand - it was how you kept them alive inside," she said, smiling. Kiyone nodded, and smiled herself.

"Something like that. What about you two? I have to admit, you aren't exactly what I'd pictured you to be like," she said. Sasami giggled, and Ayeka chuckled softly.

"There are times when I think that I am two people; the Princess that the vidcams and reporters see, and Ayeka, who my friends see." She paused a moment, and then lightly touched the scar. "She was right; before I got this, I too often thought that I was special just because of my bloodlines, but I was hurt just as easily as the little girl - Ryoko - was. It made me realize that I had to earn that so-called nobility; it is not something one is born with." Kiyone nodded.

"You're doing a good job of it. Even out here, everybody talks about how glad they'll be when you accept the throne," said Kiyone, and Ayeka smiled in acknowledgement of the compliment. Sasami grinned.

"You know, I could see us meeting the way Achika told us, living together. Tenchi - I mean, the Tenchi in that message - was right. It does seem kinda crazy, but it just feels... I don't know, natural. Like it shouldn't be any other way," she said, laughing. Ayeka smiled slightly.

"It does, doesn't it, Sasami? Somehow, I know this to be as much my home as Jurai," she said, and after a moment, Kiyone nodded in agreement, before abruptly smiling.

"A family, he called us. Maybe I'm a little out of practice, but I think I'm going to enjoy learning how to be a part of one again," she said, laughing. Sasami laughed too, and Ayeka smiled.

"I believe that we will enjoy having you as part of one."

  


Tenchi frowned, as he looked about himself. He wasn't sure how, but he knew he was in a dream. Yet, it was more than simply a dream; he was aware of himself, aware that he was in a dream. There were no lights that he could see, yet there was a strange half-light that came from everything and nothing. He was in a hall; the walls glistening red stone, floors of raven black marble polished until he was looking back at himself. There was no ceiling that he could see; the walls just rose into empty darkness. Ahead of him, the hall cornered away in a t-intersection. Frowning, he turned around, and found a blank wall of the same, strange, glistening red stone.

He frowned again, lightly reaching out to touch the wall, and then blinked. The stone was moist with something; his fingertips came away stained with crimson. After a moment, a cold ball formed in the pit of his stomach, as he realized, considering the usual trend to his dreams lately, what it probably was. Scowling, he wiped it away on his pants, and turned, walking toward the intersection. 

The hall stretched on past his view in both directions, vanishing into a misty haze. Tenchi sighed again, and frowning, turned and started walking down the right-hand corridor. "Hello! Anybody here?" he shouted, as he walked. The only answer was the sound of his own voice echoing back to him. "A maze," he sighed. "With my luck, I'll walk right into a trap," he muttered. 

He wasn't sure how long he moved along the hall; it just stretched on, and on, with no turns or even cubby holes to look into. It was nothing but the same, polished marble floor and glistening stone. Finally, he stopped, and turned back around. "Huh!?" Behind him was the same, featureless wall that had been behind him when he'd started. The corridor was gone, as though it had never existed. "I guess that I can't go back after all."

Turning back around, he was surprised to find a doorway where the corridor had been. Slowly, he reached forward and opened it. Inside was a room that appeared to be made of crystal, in colors from golden, purples and reds to greens and blues and oranges. Tenchi entered slowly, looking around. The walls here were smooth, though here and there were small, almost bush like growths of crystals. Floor and roof were also crystal, but what drew most of his attention was the tall statue in the center of the room. Made of still more crystal that was clear as glass, it was the woman - Ryoko. She was a bit taller than he was; slender, but in no way petite. The statue wore a simple dress; just a kimono that seemed vaguely familiar to him - after a moment, he recognized it as one of his mother's favorites. He walked around the statue slowly.

"Why pick me for this? Maybe you know the other me, but I have my own life. We aren't the same person! I don't want this, I was happy as I was," he told the statue after a moment.

"You know, sometimes I still wonder that too, now and then." Tenchi whirled, and started as he saw himself, if a ghostly, misty copy of himself. He looked as though he was barely holding together; a strong gust of wind might have blown him away. Tenchi frowned.

"But how... I take it you're the other me?" he asked. The ghost grinned slightly.

"Or maybe you're the other me. It's confusing, isn't it?" he said, laughing. The ghost turned toward the statue, and walked toward it a little. "Washu found a way to link us up through our subconscious. Only catch is, we both have to be asleep for it to work," he explained, before grinning wryly. "We were starting to wonder if you ever slept." Tenchi nodded slowly.

"Aunt Washu and mother were explaining - trying to, at least - what had happened. They've all arrived, unless you're expecting anybody other than Ayeka, Sasami, Kiyone and Mihoshi," he told him. The ghost winced, laughing.

"AUNT Washu? Things must have been interesting growing up with her around as an Aunt! And mother? Did Dad remarry there? But to answer your question, we were thinking that Nagi might show up, too. But Washu doubted it," he said.

"Nagi? Nevermind, I'm having enough trouble keeping their names straight as it is," he said, before frowning. How to explain that his mother had never died? The simple truth was probably best. "Um, mother... Well, you see, my... mother is still alive. Aunt was able to save her," he said. The ghost smiled slightly, nodding.

"Washu said that her double might be able to save her. You're lucky. I haven't seen her for a long time... I miss her a lot," he said quietly, before looking at the statue. "She is beautiful, isn't she? Ryoko usually doesn't wear things like that - she's too proud of her body to hide it under a kimono like Ayeka. Which isn't to say that Ayeka isn't proud of her body, but she is very rooted in tradition, and Juraian tradition says you avoid revealing yourself if you can." The ghost shook his head. "Strange that I can say that so easily to you, when I can barely admit it to myself. I don't think I could say the same to Ryoko if it meant my life." Tenchi frowned at him.

"Just say it. It's not that difficult, is it? If it's what you believe, then just say it," he told him. "I've never had any trouble telling Kei that she's beautiful." His ghost looked at him curiously.

"Who's Kei?" he asked. Tenchi smiled slightly.

"I guess that she is our Ryoko, or at least mine. She was born blind; Aunt has just repaired her vision." He paused a moment. "She's everything I could ever hope for, and more than I deserve," he said softly. The ghost grinned at him for a moment.

"We're not so different, even if I doubt I could ever be quite that up front," he said. Then he grew serious. "If we find anything important, I'll tell you through this dream. Watch out for trouble to come out of the woodwork - we seem to be a magnet for it. Especially if you meet a man named Kagato. He may be after Ayeka and Sasami, and he's very powerful." He sighed as his wrist watch beeped. "I told them to wake me up in thirty minutes, and it's almost that time now. Good luck. We may meet in person yet." The ghost started to turn, and then paused.

"If she means to you what Ryoko means to me, don't wait. I did, and now I might never get the chance to tell her," he said quietly. Then he abruptly vanished, leaving Tenchi alone with the statue.

"What am I supposed to do?"

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	5. Chapter 5: In For a Penny...

What Might Have Been Chapter Five: In For a Penny...

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1]. Yes, I really would like C&C on this, but please, send it directly to me, and not the FFML.

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

Kei yawned as she woke up, and then smirked slightly as she looked at the softly snoring, and shirtless Tenchi. He hadn't even bothered to get under the covers the previous night before nodding off. Then she blinked, as she realized again that she could see. The thought alone was enough to stretch her smirk into a full smile. She knew, deep down, that a lot of it was just the newness, the excitement of her greatest wish actually being granted, but she hoped that it would never go away. Somehow, even meeting Ayeka and Sasami and the others, and the prospect of going into space paled next to the ability to see, after living for so long in a darkness.

Abruptly, she sighed, smiling again, and sat up to study Tenchi's sleeping face. She'd known him now for nearly three years, since she'd transferred to his school - it was farther from her foster home, but much better set up for children with disabilities than her old one had been. Tenchi had been assigned to her to help her for the first few weeks, while she got used to the layout of the school. She hadn't been too happy to get saddled with what she considered a hand-holder at the time - at least until they'd reached their first class. She remembered that day vividly.

"What, you're not going to put my hand on the doorknob, or open it for me?" she'd asked him, when he'd told her that they were to their class.

"Do you really want me to? I wasn't sure if you knew where it was, and I didn't want to embarrass you if you did," he'd told her. She'd been taken aback.

"I... wouldn't mind if you'd show me the first few times. Sometimes they aren't where I expect," she'd said after a moment. He honestly hadn't cared that she was blind. Too many other people found out that she was blind, and then started treating her like she was porcelain, afraid to hurt her by saying or doing the wrong thing. That, or, worse, they'd start to act as though she was both blind and deaf. But not Tenchi... He'd never once treated her as less than what she was, or as though she couldn't do anything on her own, even when they first met, before they'd ever gotten to know each other. 

When the assignment had ended, they'd just wound up sticking together. She'd found out that he enjoyed drawing when he'd followed her into her art class; Tenchi ended up being the first person outside of her foster family that she'd ever sketched. She had the abrupt thought that she should go through all those older drawings, and see if she really had done as well as they had always said she did.

Kei felt something land on the end of the bed near her feet, and glanced down to see Ryo-Ohki as she jumped up on the bed. The furry little creature walked up her legs, and then plopped down in her lap, miyaing softly. Kei grinned, and then lightly scratched her under the chin. The cabbit began to purr, and she laughed softly in delight.

"You are a cute little one, aren't you? Well, that's alright, I like cute little things, especially furry ones," she told her, grinning again as Ryo-Ohki miyaed. Suddenly she got an idea, and smirked mischievously at the sleeping form of Tenchi. "So, I'm a lumpy mattress, am I?" Lightly, she lifted the cabbit, and set her back down so that she was nose to nose with Tenchi; Ryo-Ohki sat down. Then she leaned down, softly whispered, "Ten-chi..." and lightly blew in his ear. His eyes slid open, and he stared at Ryo-Ohki for a moment. Then the cabbit abruptly licked his nose.

"Gah!!" he exclaimed, as he recoiled away from the little furball - and right into her. She started laughing as he gave her a totally shocked and horrified look and went absolutely crimson to his hairline. "K, K, Kei!" he sputtered, as he scrambled out of the bed, which only made her laugh all the more. After a few moments had gone by, the red slowly started to drain from his face, to be replaced by irritation. "Hey! That's not fair sneaking up on a guy like that."

"Who needed to sneak," she countered. "You were snoring loud enough to wake the dead. It's a wonder that the whole house isn't already awake," she said, as she got out of the bed. To her surprise, he abruptly went even redder in the face than before, his eyes going wide before he quickly spun away from her. Kei blinked, and padded across the carpet on bare feet to him. "What's the matter, did I embarrass you so much that you can't even look at me?" she teased, as she hugged him tightly from behind. Tenchi went absolutely rigid.

"Ah... I'm going to have to ask Mother to explain this one Kei, but could you... please... put some clothes on?" he asked her, in a quiet, strained voice. Kei blinked, and stepped back from him. 

"What are you...?" she began, and then abruptly blinked again, blushing herself as she realized what he was so embarrassed about. In a whirlwind of speed that had nothing to do with the slight chill she was feeling now that she was out from under the covers, she practically dove into fresh clothing. "I'm so sorry Tenchi, that's not exactly something you tend to think about first thing when you're blind, I never shared a room with a boy, only other girls that came through the house," she exclaimed, as she straightened her shirt. He slowly turned, and the tension drained from his face as he saw that she was indeed fully dressed now.

"No... no worries Kei," he said slowly, before starting to pick up a little speed. "I... I think that I can survive a glimpse of-" She gave him a very dangerous look, and he grinned dryly "-perfection in beauty." Kei smirked at him dryly - and forced herself to ignore the blush that she knew was still on her face. She turned away under the pretense of picking up Ryo-Ohki before it could intensify. 

"Come on Ryo-Ohki. I think we should give Tenchi some time to think up some better lines, don't you?" she said lightly - much lighter than she felt, anyway - before turning toward the doorway.

"Kei... Hang on a moment," he said, catching her shoulder before she could leave the room. She looked at him, as he crossed his room to the desk, and opened up the top drawer. Setting Ryo-Ohki on her shoulder, she joined him. 

"What?" she asked, smiling slightly. Tenchi removed a long, thin, rectangular box from the drawer. It was covered in soft-looking black felt, and a light blue ribbon was tied in a bow around it. A small, white card that was covered in strange symbols had been tucked under the ribbon. She blinked in surprise, and then gave him a curious look. Tenchi frowned thoughtfully for a moment, and then took a deep breath.

"I... got this to give to you when they took off the bandages, but I wasn't planning on getting knocked out myself. My mother and father didn't know about it, so I didn't have it with me when you finally did let Washu take them off," he said, before handing the box to her. She blinked again, slowly turning it over in her hands before she carefully undid the bow, and looked at the card. After a moment, it dawned on her what those symbols must be.

"That's writing, isn't it?" she asked. "But since it's not braille, I can't read it... I never thought about that, that I'd have to learn how to read all over again," she said quietly. Tenchi smiled at her comfortingly. 

"Well... If Aunt Washu really is the super-genius that she says she is, she must have something to help you. We'll ask first thing, alright?" he told her, and Kei nodded slowly. He smiled. "Do you want me to read this to you in the mean time, or do you want to wait to see if she can help?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"You can read it to me. After all, it must not be anything you wouldn't have said to me, right?" she said, laughing. Tenchi grinned slightly, and she handed him the card, before sitting down on the bed. Tenchi grinned again, and then looked to the card.

"Kei... It's hard to describe how happy for you I am - how happy all of us are. A lot of bad things have happened to you, and it's past time that something went your way... You've earned it, and you never should have had to," he said. Then he lowered the card, and looked at her. She stared at him for a moment, and then abruptly remembered that she still held the box in her hands. She opened it, and then gasped softly.

Inside rested a thin, silver chain, which supported a small, golden hawk. It was so finely detailed that she could see the individual feathers of the wings and the body, the sharp curve of the hooked beak. It had been crafted to appear to be flying at whoever was looking at it. Two gems, sapphires with a slightly greenish hue to them had been set as it's eyes, and held in it's talons was a sparkling ruby. In disbelief, she lightly lifted it out of the box; it glittered brightly in the glare streaming in from the skylight. She looked from it to Tenchi and then back, her mouth working but no sound coming out.

"It... It's beautiful, Tenchi," she finally managed to get out, suddenly very glad she'd been sitting down when she had opened it; she wasn't sure if her knees would have stayed locked. Slowly, she rose, and then walked over to him. "Will you help me put it on, please?" she asked him quietly, smiling. He nodded, and she handed the necklace to him, turning around. Tenchi gently placed it around her neck, and then fastened it together.

"There," he said, as she turned back to him, smiling again.

"Thank you, Tenchi," she said, before hugging him tightly. "I love it... I love you," she told him, looking up into his face. There, she had done it finally; she'd told him she loved him. He smiled at her.

"I know, Kei... I love you too, and I... I... I have absolutely no idea what to say next," he said. They looked at each other for a moment, and then they laughed quietly, cutting away the sudden awkward tension.

"Just say it again, and again, and again," she told him, grinning. She felt almost giddy, but she thought she would have died of embarrassment if he hadn't felt the same. Tenchi laughed, and hugged her, smiling.

"I love you. I love you, I love you," he told her. "I love you, and there is nothing that can change that. Nothing," he said. For a moment, she looked at him, and then he leaned down, and softly kissed her. She shivered, as his lips touched hers. She'd been wrong, she decided, when she thought that his greatest gift to her was her sight; that had only been part of it. It was him; his love - it wasn't the way her foster parents loved her. They loved all the children that came through their home, but that was the way that they were... Tenchi loved her because she was herself, and not for any other reason. 

Finally, they parted, just in time for the door to slide open and admit Achika. She took one look at them, and then grinned dryly. 

"Err, do the two of you want me to come back in half an hour or so?"

  


"Are you sure that you understand how to hook this up to Kain's lock?" asked Washu, as Kiyone carefully placed the black box into her duffel bag. She grinned slightly.

"Washu, I could install it if I were blind, missing a hand, and three days dead by now. The only trick will be getting down to the Subspace Room in the first place. It's maximum security, and Mihoshi and I aren't cleared for it," she said. Actually, though, she thought that she had an idea of how to get down to it. It wouldn't be easy, that was for sure.

"No, it won't," said Washu, and Kiyone winced, realizing that she'd spoken that last thought aloud. "By the way, I took the liberty of uploading some new communications software to Yagami's computer. It will allow you to contact me through the ultra-space net - it's untraceable, and uninterceptable," she said. Kiyone winced.

"Alright. I'll assume that it won't mess up any systems," she said. Washu grinned.

"Nope. Just be sure to double check your water temps," she told her, before laughing. "All joking aside, you may have some internal communications hiccups, but ship to ship and ship to shore will be just fine. Oh, and one other thing. I know it's standard Galaxy Police procedure to lock-out the main computers of ships when internal alarms are set off - which you may well do. Just in case, I installed a primary override that will activate when you speak the proper password." 

"What's the password?" prompted Kiyone. Washu smirked.

"It's, 'Washu is the greatest genius in the entire universe!' of course," she said. Kiyone sighed, but nodded. She had the feeling that she should have expected that.

"Alright," she said. "What about the ones that are staying here? How are you going to proceed?"

"My duplicate left plans for the time machine that she used to send them back in time. It's their job to go back and stop the miasma," answered Washu. Kiyone nodded, even if she was doubtful. After a moment, footsteps sounded coming down the stairs, and they turned to see Kei, Tenchi and Achika coming down the stairs. Ryo-Ohki was riding on Kei's shoulder; Kiyone grinned in spite of herself. A slight sparkle caught her eye, and Kiyone looked a bit closer at Kei to see a new necklace that dangled to just above the neckline of her shirt. It looked like a small hawk, accented with a pair of small sapphires and a ruby. Kiyone's smile widened; no wonder she seemed to be in such a good mood.

"Good morning, Kiyone," said Achika, smiling.

"Good morning. Washu and I were just going over some last minute details before Mihoshi and I left; she's out running pre-flight tests so we can get moving," she said; Achika nodded. Kei grinned at her.

"It must be great to have your own spaceship. You get to go anywhere in space you want," she said. Kiyone winced.

"Well, maybe not so free as that, but yeah, it has it's perks. But what am I telling you that for, you know as well as I do, don't you?" she said, and was surprised when Kei gave her a confused look.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Don't you know what Ryo-Ohki is?" asked Kiyone, grinning. Tenchi and Kei looked at each other in confusion; for herself, Ryo-Ohki was looking rather pleased with herself. Washu smiled slightly.

"Actually Kiyone, I haven't gotten around to telling her that yet. I was planning to explain it once I got done with you," she said, and Kiyone nodded.

"Oh."

"Uh, if you two don't mind... What are you talking about? What about Ryo-Ohki? Is there something wrong with her?" asked Kei, a note of concern creeping into her voice. Washu laughed, and grinned at Kiyone; she sighed.

"Ah, Kei... Ryo-Ohki is an organic space-ship," said Kiyone, and then stifled a grin as Kei's eyes went wide as they could go. Washu chuckled.

"Come on you two, I've got a few things that I need to show you before you leave," she told them, as she walked over to the closet door. "The first thing? A lot of what you think you knew no longer applies," she said, as she opened it. Kiyone stared. Inside was something impossible, because it looked like it was larger than the house that they were in! Washu laughed as she ushered the dumbstruck Tenchi and Kei in, and closed the door behind them. Kiyone looked at Achika.

"Is she... always... so eccentric?" she asked. Achika laughed, and smiled at her.

"Usually. But after awhile, you get used to it," she answered.

  


Kei slowly walked into... she wasn't sure what it was. There was a breeze; far above them a dome with clouds lazily moving along under it. She was sure that they weren't fake clouds - they were too real looking to be fake. There were trees that were growing around great beams of metal - or did the metal grow around them? It was hard to tell - at some places, it almost looked like the metal BECAME the living tree, and vice versa. A pair of streams burbled along through thin air, with nothing to contain them into the rivers that they were. They ran along until they met, and became a small waterfall that fell into a small pool - Kei stared in surprise as she realized that after falling into the pool, they fed the streams - flowing upwards. That wasn't be possible, was it?

"What... What is this place, Aunt?" asked Tenchi, nearly as wide-eyed as she was. Washu laughed.

"My lab, of course," she told them, as if she expected that to explain everything. She walked over to a small dais, and brought up her keyboard. "Well, since Kiyone brought it up, and you'll need to know, let's start with Ryo-Ohki, shall we?" For a moment, she typed on the keyboard, and then above them, a huge image of Ryo-Ohki appeared. On Kei's shoulder, the little furball miyaed in curiosity.

"From birth, all cabbits are capable of transforming themselves into successively more and more powerful battleships. Ryo-Ohki's line, for instance, is very fast and agile, and as she gets older, she'll get still faster and even more agile - literally, she'll be able to fly circles around most other ships," Washu told them. As she typed on her keyboard, the image above them changed from the cute little critter into a huge, black, white and red crystalline ship.

"Can you really turn into that, Ryo-Ohki?" asked Kei, and the cabbit miyaed happily. Washu grinned again.

"You'll see for yourself soon enough. Once I get you and the others sent back, you can use Ryo-Ohki to reach your target planet," she said. "Operation is pretty simple - ask, and Ryo-Ohki will do it if she can." Washu paused to take a breath, and Tenchi cleared his throat.

"Aunt Washu, before you tell us anything else," he said. Washu looked at him with a faint grin, as though she already knew what he was going to ask.

"Yes, Tenchi?" she asked. Tenchi looked at Kei, and smiled slightly.

"Well... I gave Kei this necklace this morning-" Washu grinned, and waved her hand.

"And she couldn't read the card with it, right? That was the next thing that I was going to get to, actually. I started working on something to help with that almost as soon as I met her. It's just about done, actually - I'm just waiting for the computer to finish loading a last few bits and pieces as we-" She glanced over as a screen appeared, beeping. "Strike that, it's ready now," she said, as she brought up her keyboard again and began to type. A hole appeared in thin air, and a pair of sunglasses floated out, and into Kei's hands.

"What are these for? Are they going to teach me?" she asked, with a slight amount of excitement in her voice.

"No, actually - they're to protect your eyes from over exposure," said Washu, grinning dryly. Tenchi and Kei both sighed, as she continued. "They'll always be sensitive to bright lights, but you need to wear those when you're outside for a couple of months, until your eyes fully adjust to normal light levels." She typed for a moment more, and this time a chair appeared next to Kei. "Have a seat," she said.

Curious, she none the less did so. Washu walked over, and began to attach several electrodes to her forehead. "Now, this may make you feel a little dizzy, and it will probably give you a little bit of a headache - but that's to be expected. After all, you'll be learning well over ten thousand languages in roughly ten minutes," she said. Kei and Tenchi both stared at her in surprise.

"Ten thousand??" exclaimed Tenchi. "How?" Washu grinned.

"Well, Kei presents something of an interesting opportunity. Normally as we grow, we record everything that we see, even if later in life we can't remember it all, and that takes up an incredible amount of space in our minds. But Kei, having been blind all of her life, has all that space free. This machine will program that blank space with those languages," she said. "It's all ready. Remember, this might sting a little."

"I'm ready, Dr. Washu," Kei told her. Washu nodded, and activated the machine.

  


Ayeka had just sat down at the table when a groaning Kei was helped out of the broom closet by Tenchi, both of whom were followed by Washu. Kei stumbled over to the table, and plopped down. "When she said a bit of a headache," she moaned, "I was thinking one of the younger foster children throwing a tantrum, not the William Tell Overture complete with cannons in my head. I could use an aspirin the size of this table." Ayeka looked at Tenchi, confused and more than a little curious.

"Washu just taught her how to read post haste - she's gotten a bit of a headache from it," he explained, and Washu laughed - Kei winced slightly at the high-pitched noise. For that matter, so did Tenchi and Ayeka.

"You make it sound so simple Tenchi. More than just how to read. Go ahead and give her a test Ayeka - she knows Juraian as well as you now, along with every other language," she said. Ayeka's eyebrows rose, but she turned to Kei.

"Would you mind, Kei?" she asked. The red-headed girl nodded, and Ayeka pursed her lips a moment, thinking. Then she noticed the necklace she wore, and smiled slightly. Evenly, she said, "Nosane iro gavane domorakoshi, Kei." That necklace is beautiful, Kei. She smiled, lightly touching it.

"Deyenine; dyu ninte concion ca'lyet ye Tenchi," she replied, without missing a beat. My thanks; a gift this morning from Tenchi. Ayeka smiled.

"Quite remarkable; I can think of one or two nobles that wouldn't have a strong enough grasp of High Juraian to answer that so well," she said. Kei grinned, although one hand still rubbed her temple.

"I hope you'll forgive me for not being quite so enthusiastic, but it's something of a pain at the moment," she told her. Ayeka grinned, shaking her head.

"That should go away before too long Kei," said Washu, smiling as the kitchen door opened and Sasami came through with a tray of steaming food. "And eating something should help," she finished with a laugh. "Anyway, I need to finish up a few last things before sending you back," she told them, before turning, and disappearing back into the closet. Meanwhile, Sasami set down the tray, and smiled.

"Good morning everybody. Wow, that's a really pretty necklace Kei!" she exclaimed, laughing. Kei smiled briefly at Tenchi, as she helped herself to some of the breakfast.

"Thank you Sasami. Tenchi just gave it to me this morning. Do you think that it looks good on me?" she asked conversationally. Sasami nodded, still smiling that ear to ear smile that Ayeka knew so well.

"Yeah, it sets off your eyes!" she answered. Ayeka smiled slightly, as she idly studied Tenchi for a moment. He was her cousin, two or three times removed - Yosho was her mother's sister's son. Had he been older she might have considered courting him, if he hadn't been already taken. Kei could have hung a sign reading, 'Property of Kei' around his neck, and it wouldn't have been as blatantly obvious. He didn't seem to realize that she was watching him; even as he ate, he kept a careful eye on Kei. Ayeka had noticed that the night before as well. Until Kei had gone up to bed, Tenchi had never been very far away from her. Granted, considering that she'd only just gained her eyesight, he probably didn't want to be too far away from her just in case something happened... 

Regardless, it was obvious to Ayeka that the feeling went both ways. And that necklace... Ayeka smiled. She couldn't help but think that hawks were the Juraian symbol of love and light, even though she realized that they had no way of knowing that. Had they both been born and raised on Jurai, their parents would probably have dragged them by the scruffs of their necks to an altar whether they were ready or not, and Ayeka had few doubts that they were ready. She thought that Achika and Nobuyuki knew as much as well - why else would they have put her in the same room as him the night before, unless they were certain things would end that way regardless? Such things were done on Jurai as well, especially in the royal family. Ayeka herself dreaded the day that her parents decided it was time to arrange her own marriage. 

Mentally Ayeka chastised herself, shaking her head slightly. It was hardly her business, and in any case it didn't really matter to her - after all, she considered them both friends, and she wouldn't do anything to harm that friendship. And this was not Jurai - Kei and Tenchi had genuine feelings for one another. If she were placed into a room with a man, it would mean that her parents had decided that was who she was to marry, her feelings and ideals beside the point. And though she knew love could grow out of such marriages - her mother and father had also been placed together so, and their parents both before them - she knew she much rather would have her own choice in the matter.

"Kei, may I ask kind of a personal question?" asked Sasami. Ayeka glanced at her, only half paying attention.

"Go ahead Sasami," answered Kei, smiling. Sasami smiled back.

"What... What is it like, growing up in a foster home?" she asked. Ayeka's gaze snapped back to her younger sister in shock.

"Sasami!" she exclaimed, but before she could chastise her, Kei shook her head and waved her hand dismissively.

"No, it's alright Ayeka. You'd be surprised how often I get asked, and I really don't mind. It's how I grew up, and I'm not ashamed of it," she said, smiling, before looking at Sasami. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain it. I suppose that the best way to describe it is that it's kinda lonely. Sure, I had plenty of friends; my foster parents have big hearts. I got lucky too, because a lot of foster parents are more interested in the extra income that they get from the government then they are in the kids they take care of. A lot of kids passed through... Some were your age, some were mine, and some were in between. Some only stayed for a couple of days, and some - like me - were there for years before they were adopted. There were boys and girls - in a way, it was like having a lot of brothers and sisters. But they always did eventually move on. That was the lonely part, always saying good bye to the kids that I'd lived with for a time." She paused, and smiled again, although a little more sadly now.

"My parents died when I was just a baby - all that I really remember of them is part of a lullaby that my mother would hum when she put me down for a nap. I was put into the foster system, and I got lucky - I stayed with the same foster parents all my life. I suppose that by this time, they really are my parents, or at least as close to them as I'll ever have. But I've never had any real family..." Kei looked at Tenchi, and smiled slightly. "Not until now, anyway." Sasami looked at her in sadness and confusion.

"But why didn't anybody adopt you?" she asked, and Kei smiled again, a little sadly.

"It takes a lot of love to adopt somebody, and it takes a lot more to adopt someone with a disability. A lot of people, no matter how much they care, can't deal with things like being blind. It's different when their own child is born that way, but when you're adopting, it's easier to accept a child that doesn't have any disabilities. Sometimes though, you can find someone with enough love in their hearts to accept a disability," she said, glancing at Tenchi again. He smiled at her, and Ayeka smiled herself, as the hawk on the necklace sparkled brightly.

  


"Keep safe, you two. I hope I'll see you again," said Achika, smiling. She, Kiyone, and Mihoshi were at the bottom of Yagami's loading ramp. For a moment, Kiyone frowned, and then turned to her partner.

"Why don't you go ahead and cycle up the engines Mihoshi. I'll be up in a moment," she told her. Mihoshi nodded, and waved to Achika before disappearing up the ramp. Kiyone looked at her for a moment, before sighing. "There's something that you haven't told us, isn't there? I kept thinking about it last night, and then I realized that it was. If this is an alternate timeline, and Ryoko's death caused it, then what is going to happen when you prevent that death?" Achika looked at her for a long moment, and then sighed.

"The truth is, we don't know. There's a lot that factors into it, but the main question is difference. Is this timeline different enough that it can sustain itself after what caused it has been repaired.? Me living, instead of dying, Kei instead of Ryoko, Ayeka not going after Tenchi's affections - Ayeka's scar!! If it's not enough..." She trailed off, but Kiyone slowly nodded.

"So Mihoshi and I aren't just going to prevent Kain's escaping. We're going to make another difference between our universe and theirs," she said quietly. Achika nodded. "That's why you didn't tell us. You were afraid that if we knew, we might not help." Achika shook her head, and smiled.

"No... I knew that you all would help. I just didn't want to burden you with the knowledge of what might be," she said, as the Yagami's engines began to power-up. "Be careful, Kiyone. I didn't get to know you and Mihoshi as well as Ryoko and Ayeka. I'd like to get the chance now." After a moment, Kiyone nodded and smiled at her.

"Good luck. We'll see each other again."

  


"Alright. Do you all understand what's going to happen, and where I'll be?" asked Washu. Tenchi frowned slightly, from where his seat spun around his Aunt. There were six seats in all; Kei was strapped into the one to his right; his parents, Ayeka, and Sasami were in the others. They'd been spinning now for nearly an hour, while Washu went on and on about their mission, and the only thing that he still didn't understand was...

"I still don't get how this stick is supposed to be any help," he said, looking down at the short, carved rod. The only strange things about it was that it felt... old, and slightly warm to his touch. Aside from that, it looked just like a piece of wood. His grandfather had pushed it into his hands just before he'd been strapped in.

"Ayeka can explain it's activation Tenchi; after that, it's use will be fairly obvious," she laughed. Tenchi sighed.

"I had a feeling that you would say something like that," he said. "But alright."

"Yadda yadda... Ok everybody, if there are no more questions, let's accelerate!" she said. Tenchi swallowed.

"Accelerate? As in faster??" he asked. Washu only cackled as she typed on her keyboard. The chairs began to whirl faster and faster, until the only thing that he could see was one long, never-ending blur. There were several shouts that he couldn't quite make out; and then, just before a bright flash of light, he heard Kei say, "This is even better than the roller coaster!"

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	6. Chapter 6: ...In For a Pound

What Might Have Been Chapter Six: ...In for a Pound

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

"How far out from Headquarters are we, Mihoshi?" asked Kiyone, as she stepped onto the bridge. The blonde glanced at her over her shoulder.

"Three hours still, but we're in communications range now. You said you wanted to know as soon as we were, right?" she replied. Kiyone nodded as she sat down and punched up her com-panel. Opening a channel, she cleared her throat. "Control, this is patrol ship Yagami, over." After a moment, a communications window opened up, and a young, brightly smiling communications officer appeared. Kiyone inwardly winced; she looked fresh out of Academy.

"Yagami, this is Control. I am Shea, how may I assist you?" she asked. Kiyone almost ground her teeth. It wasn't fair. Even a nearly useless job as a communications officer was better than being assigned to the rear end of the universe. Instead, she forced her face to remain straight, and smiled slightly.

"I am Detective First Class Kiyone Makibi. I would like you to please transfer my call over to the head of Special Criminal Retrieval," she replied. Shea winced.

"I would, Detective, but-" Kiyone cut her off.

"If she's in a meeting, tell her that it's urgent, and make sure you pass along my name, please," she said.

"But-" she tried again.

"Just place the call, please, I promise that I'll take care of the details," said Kiyone, scowling slightly. For a moment, Shea looked like she was about to try again, but then sighed, nodding.

"It's on your head," she muttered; when Kiyone raised her eyebrow, she blushed bright red. "I'm sorry Detective Makibi, I... I'm connecting your call right now, have a very good day!" she finished in a rush, before a 'Please Stand By' message replaced her image and soft elevator music began to play.

"Cushy little button pusher," muttered Kiyone. Mihoshi looked at her in curiosity.

"What do you need with SCR, Kiyone?" she asked in curiosity. Kiyone grinned slightly.

"Not Special Criminal Retrieval itself, but its section commander. You remember the teacher from our covert ops training, don't you?" Mihoshi nodded slowly. "She and I got to be friends during that particular bit of training, and we've kept that friendship up since then," she answered. At least, they had until she and Mihoshi had been shipped off to Nowheresville, she mentally added. Abruptly the music cut off, and Kiyone looked back up to the communication window.

"Are you that off on station time Kiyone? It's the middle of the night here!" grumbled the red eyed woman that appeared on the screen. Had they been standing side by side, they would have been roughly the same height, though Kiyone was actually a little shorter. She had almost platinum-white hair, and a beautiful, if often too serious face. She was a bit older than Kiyone was, but you couldn't tell by looking at her. Kiyone grinned, wincing inwardly. So that was why Shea had been so reluctant to put the call through - Nagi's temper was rather... startling, at times.

"Sorry about that Nagi. My partner and I are on our way back to the station. I have a lot to talk to you about - something you'll find really interesting. But I won't keep you awake telling you over the line - is there a place you and I could get together?" she asked, hoping that she'd understand. To her great relief, Nagi slowly nodded, frowning.

"How far out are you?" she asked after a moment. Kiyone glanced at the distance indicator.

"About... two hours and forty-five minutes, give or take," she replied. Nagi nodded.

"Alright... Why don't you meet me down below an hour after you arrive and get your quarters assigned," she said finally. Kiyone smiled at her, as she nodded.

"Thanks Nagi, I'll see you then," she said. Nagi nodded, and then closed the communication window. After making sure that the communications channel was closed on their end, Kiyone breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thank god she understood," she said, before glancing at Mihoshi, who was staring at her in confusion.

"What was all that about?" she asked. Kiyone grinned.

"Nagi used to be a bounty hunter, and a really good one, too. But, one of her leads turned out to be a trap. She got away, but her ship, which was a cabbit, took too much damage and died not long after. She'd made a couple of friends in High Command, and one of them offered her a special position; she decided to take it. She might be able to help get us into the Subspace Room, where Kain's locking mechanism is," she said.

"What's down below?"

"It's one of the bars in the civilian section of the station," answered Kiyone. "We used to go there now and then to talk." Slowly, Mihoshi nodded. Kiyone turned her attention back to her control panel, and reopened the channel. "Control, this is Yagami again, requesting temporary quarters and landing permission. We are currently inbound at..."

  


Kei slowly picked herself up from where she'd landed, groaning. She heard somebody throwing up - either Achika or Ayeka, she thought, though she didn't want to dwell on it for too long. She was feeling rather nauseated herself. A hand touched her shoulder; she glanced over to see Tenchi, and gladly accepted his help in standing. Looking around, she saw Nobuyuki helping Achika up, and Sasami standing next to Ayeka, who was scrubbing the back of her hand across her mouth. Ryo-Ohki looked at little woozy, but miyaed at her softly.

"Every... everybody here?" croaked Achika.

"I think I may have left my stomach back in Aunt Washu's lab," said Tenchi.

"It's probably safer there," countered Ayeka, as she unsteadily rose to her feet. Tenchi gave her a sympathetic grin.

"That wasn't so bad... if it was supposed to be a blender, that is," said Sasami. They looked about themselves. Not far away Kei could see the house. It was different, smaller - of course. In this time, only Achika and her father lived there. 

"Come on," said Achika, "we need to move away from here before taking off, and before Dad or my younger self takes a look out the window and sees us all here." Once they'd all shaken off the after effects of being tossed through time, they started moving. Kei followed Tenchi and the others as Achika led them deeper into the woods. "Once we get into the air, will you be able to guide us to that planet?"

"Yes; I checked Ryou-oh's data banks for the coordinates before we left; I have then written down," she replied. "It will not take us long to reach it, no more than a day and half, I would think." Achika nodded, as they continued through the forest. After almost an hour, she finally waved them to a stop.

"We should be safe to take off from here," she said, before looking at Kei. Tenchi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're ready, Kei?" he asked. She grinned.

"Only one way to find out," she told him, before looking at Ryo-Ohki. "Alright, go ahead and show us what you can do," she said. The cabbit jumped down from her shoulder, miyaing, and then gathered herself for a moment. Suddenly, she jumped straight up, soaring into the air. Once she was well above them, she flipped, and then abruptly began to change, at first becoming a crystal and then growing, shooting off great spears of black and gray. They all watched in amazement, until finally the now huge ship stopped growing, having fully formed.

Kei was about to applaud, when suddenly she got a queasy feeling in her stomach and the world abruptly began to flicker. Once, twice, and then she was somehow inside a huge, crystalline room, with a dome that offered a clear view of the sky. There were about a dozen diamond-like crystals floating in the air, and a chair with three floating spheres before it. One was larger one and was between two smaller ones. One of the diamonds floated over, and Ryo-Ohki's face appeared on it.

"Miya!" Kei grinned, as she walked over to the chair; the diamond floated with her.

"Can you bring the others up too?" she asked; a moment later, Tenchi appeared, and then the rest of them, looking about themselves in surprise. "Great. Ok, so how do I get you moving?" she asked. A screen appeared, showing her sitting in the chair with her hands on the two smaller spheres. Kei sat down, and lightly touched the spheres, and Ryo-Ohki burst into motion, flying straight up. "This is so cool," she said, grinning.

"You need to set a course for the Deltari system," said Ayeka, as she came over. Kei looked at her a little sheepishly.

"Ah... how?" she asked. Ayeka blinked, and then laughed.

"I forget, this is your first time, isn't it?" she said, smiling. "Simply say aloud, 'Set course for Deltari,' and Ryo-Ohki will do the rest," she explained. Kei did as she had been told, and abruptly several screens with star maps and charts appeared around them. The ship began to move toward a red marked star system, and next to it appeared a short message: ETA 25:32:27. The numbers began to count down.

"A little more than a day, thanks to Ryo-Ohki's speed," said Achika, as she came up beside them. "Once we get there, we can infiltrate the planet itself and keep watch for Ryoko and Ayeka - their younger selves, that is."

"While I was checking Ryou-oh's data banks, I pulled the proper security codes," said Ayeka. "With them, we can get onto the planet with no questions asked, and easily take up positions to guard." Achika nodded.

"Good," she said. Ayeka smiled slightly, and then turned to Tenchi. 

"Well then... I believe Washu was expecting me to show you how to activate Tenchi-ken..."

  


Kiyone opened the door to the quarters that she and Mihoshi had been given, and stepped inside. Dropping her bags, she reached out and hit the light switch - and blinked in surprise as Nagi glanced up at her from a datapad. "How did you know where we'd be roomed?" she asked, as Mihoshi stepped in behind her. Nagi smirked dryly.

"I'm head of Special Criminal Recovery, you don't think I have ways of finding things out? Barring that, you don't think I don't still have a few tricks up my sleeve from my... earlier career? I had the feeling that you wanted to talk sooner than later," she said. Kiyone nodded, and then looked at Mihoshi.

"Why don't you get our stuff unpacked, while I talk with Nagi, ok?" she suggested. Mihoshi grinned, and nodded.

"Sure Kiyone!" she said cheerfully, as she grabbed Kiyone's duffel. Kiyone smiled slightly, and then walked over to Nagi, pulling the black box out of her pocket. 

"I need to attach this to Kain's locking mechanism within four days, or he'll escape," she said simply. Nagi studied her for a moment, with one eyebrow raised, and then smirked again.

"This should be an interesting story. I take it that you don't want to run this through Control?" she said, finally. Kiyone nodded in relief.

"They'd pick this apart, and I doubt that they could put it back together again. For that matter, it would take a week just to cut through the red tape to see them," said Kiyone. Nagi nodded briefly.

"Alright, I'll help, but first I want to know how you came to get that, and how you found out about Kain's impending escape," she said, gesturing to a chair, and taking one for herself. Kiyone smiled, and nodded.

"It started when Mihoshi suggested we go to Earth for leave - don't give me that look, I know it's off limits. I'd like to see you refuse her when she's made up her mind," she said dryly. "When we landed, we were met by Dr. Washu."

"You mean the mad scientist that was exiled in a prison crystal seven hundred years ago?" asked Nagi, surprise showing on her expression. Kiyone nodded gravely.

"The same. She led us to a house, and asked us to wait there. Not long after, Princess Ayeka and Sasami arrived as well." Nagi gave her a startled, somewhat disbelieving look, but Kiyone didn't give her the chance to ask the obvious question. "Not long after that, the family that owns the house arrived, and that's when things started getting strange. They told us... what would have been an unbelievable, if not for the entire situation already being unbelievable. The gist of it was that, in an alternate timeline, Kain did escape, and went back in time. He killed a little girl. Here's the catch - that little girl's older self was also in the past, trying to stop him, and so when her younger self was killed, she didn't die - she was outside the timeline." Nagi nodded.

"Let me guess," she said. "When she returned to her time, she created a paradox." Kiyone nodded again.

"Right. It created this timeline, but the distortion is too great. It's ripping a hole in reality. The others went back to prevent her death, but the Kain in this timeline still has to be stopped - that's what Mihoshi and I are here to do. Washu said that she'd made this after studying the data from his escape in the other timeline, and that this would be able to stop him - if it's hooked up to his lock," she finished. Nagi frowned a moment, and then sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"If I didn't know you, Kiyone, I'd say that you've cracked under the strain. Then again, I do know you, and I'm still tempted to say that. Problem is, nobody crazy could come up with a story as coherent as that." She paused, frowning thoughtfully. "Four days?" she asked. Kiyone nodded. "Hmm... Alright, you'll have to give me a day or two to do some leg work and scramble the message logs a little. Stay low; I'll leave a message for you saying where to meet." She stood, walking over to the door, and then paused. "Oh, and Kiyone? You might want to think about what else you'd like to do with your life, because if we get caught, Control won't be happy."

  


Nagi slipped out of Kiyone and Mihoshi's quarters, making sure that nobody saw her as she did. It'd been nearly ten years since she'd lost Ken-Ohki, and left the life of bounty hunting. The problem was, as much of a part of her as it was, hunting just hadn't held any challenges for her anymore. Still, she'd never lost most of her habits. She'd been a hunter for too long... it was a part of her.

When an old friend of hers had offered her a job as head of the Special Criminal Retrieval section, she'd just decided to take it. It allowed her much of the same freedom for a steady paycheck, and she had the power to go out after a criminal herself anytime she got the urge. But more and more of late, she was starting to miss that life. The thrill of walking a razor's edge between life and death while squaring off against an interstellar criminal, of picking up the traces and tracking them down... She sighed softly, surprising herself.

"Probably too damn old to do that now," she muttered. Old... she wasn't even forty! Maybe that was why she'd jumped on this so quickly. Because, as she'd told Kiyone, it was crazy. But it was also different. It was outside of what had become an almost painful rut for her. She scowled. "Great, now I'm having a bloody mid-life crisis," she growled.

"Penny for your thoughts, Commander?" Nagi winced inwardly, as the newest transfer to her department fell in beside her. He was nearly as tall as she was - mentally, she tsked vexedly. His genes had been tailored to the optimal height and weight for an officer. Tall enough to reach most anything, and small enough to fit perfectly into all forms of gear. Of course, that wasn't all; he was stronger, faster, and more intelligent than any officer that wasn't grown from a test-tube. And last of the improvements was his cybernetic arm. It could directly interface with practically any computer, perform minor site-to-site teleportation, and fire hollow-point projectile bullets. She hadn't believed it, when she'd been briefed about that - actual bullets, rather than energy blasts, but she'd seen him on the practice range. The techs had said it was something about being easier to work in a projectile system than an energy blaster due to the power requirements.

His 'official' name was Operative A, but most people called him by the name his developers had given him - Trakal. The officer of the future, and she absolutely loathed him. She hadn't had any training, unlike other Galaxy Police officers, but then, she'd hardly needed any. But she did know one thing that made Trakal completely dangerous to entrust such power to. He'd been grown in a lab, and not in a family. He didn't have the human qualities that might prevent him from killing an innocent just because they did the wrong thing at the wrong time. He'd been programmed, not raised. Of course, she couldn't tell him that or let it show; he'd been assigned to her both as an officer under her command and to learn some of that human judgement. She highly doubted that the later was possible.

"Ruminating on my career," she replied, not-quite-curtly. He gave her a sideways glance; a calculating, too cool, almost nauseatingly flat glance. It was the kind of glance that, had she still been a bounty hunter, she would have shot first, shot later, and then shot some more for, and questions be damned. She knew that she could order him to go away and he would. He couldn't do anything else - he'd been programmed to be the perfect officer. Always obeying orders, always following the rules, and always, ALWAYS going unbendingly by the book. 

Abruptly, she felt her throat dry. If he caught wind of what Kiyone, Mihoshi, and she were planning... She kept her face carefully composed, answering his questions in the same, not-quite-curt tone. Suddenly though, something that he said caught her attention. "What was that?" she asked. He gave her that... inhumanly flat glance again.

"I said, it seems that Princess Ayeka and Princess Sasami of Jurai have gone missing. The report came through a couple hours ago on the Jurai-Net. They found Sasami's ship, set to stand-by, drifting out near the Sol system. I've also been hearing rumors that the Science Academy picked up a temporal anomaly in that area not long ago," he said. Nagi let an eyebrow rise, as she tried to think of a way to steer the conversation away from that area, and berated herself for underestimating him once again. She wouldn't have thought that he'd pay attention to rumors and be able to connect them to something substantial. But of course - he'd been programmed to be the perfect detective, too.

"The Science Academy?" she finally said dryly. "The last time I checked, if you handed them a box, they'd come up with nine reasons it was real, ten that it wasn't, and three that it wasn't actually a box. At the moment, they're probably trying to decide if their scanners were properly aligned." She smirked slightly. "By the time they figure up from down, Ayeka and Sasami will probably have returned, and told everybody that they were just on vacation. In any case, it's hardly our concern. Jurai military will be doing the search." He frowned slightly, but nodded after a moment.

"As you say, Commander," he said. Nagi debated giving him another little push away from his earlier train of thought, but decided against it. A push might topple him, but it might also start him asking questions, and she couldn't afford that.

"Anything else to report?" she asked mildly, before shoving his drone into a corner of her mind to process later. It was a trick she'd picked up while bounty hunting to use once she... convinced a suspect to talk. Instead, she focused on how she was going to smuggle herself, Kiyone and Mihoshi into the very core of the station. Preferably without anybody finding out, especially Trakal, also known as Operative-bloody-A!

  


The entity paused in its travel, as, quite abruptly, it felt its targets - two of them, anyway - from somewhere behind it. But that couldn't be - it sensed them directly ahead, and had for quite some time. Straining, it could still feel only one of its third target, but the doubles confused it. He had not said anything about doubles, only set it to the trail of the three.

"Go," He had said, "go and destroy these three, and let nothing stop you." It would, of course; it had been created only to kill those three; the one with the gold eyes, the one with the crimson eyes, and the one with the green eyes... That was its existence, and once it succeeded, it would return to nothing. But now it was confused, because it could feel its pray both ahead of and behind it.

After a time, it sensed that the ones behind it were coming closer. It wasn't very intelligent - truth be told, it was barely smart enough to complete its mission, and it knew that - but, after thinking hard on that - they were coming closer - it decided they must be going to join the ones ahead of it. Yes, they must be going to join themselves, and then it could kill all four of them at once. Then, He would be happy, and it could fade away.

Casting about, it found an asteroid, and melded with it, to wait until they passed. Then it would follow, and then it would kill.

Yes. It would wait, and then it would kill. Then Kain would be happy.

  


Tenchi found himself once again in that impossibly long corridor, with its mirror-polished marble floor, and the blood-stained walls. Only, this time, he sensed... something. A presence. It was almost tangible, but at the same time, it was wholly out of reach. There was... a wrongness to it, something that shouldn't be. It... pulsed. That was it, he realized suddenly. The entire corridor was pulsing in time with that wrongness. It was barely perceptible, but now that he'd noticed it, he was surprised he hadn't seen it before.

Slowly, Tenchi began to walk down the corridor. He could only assume that it was the same as before, except for that wrongness that he could almost taste. Unbidden, his mind began to dwell on it. It was... vile, like meat left out in the sun for too long. That was the smell his mind put to it, but it was more than just that, it was...

He paused, as his mind supplied the words. It was death, decay... It was the smell that pain would have, if it had a scent. It was suffering itself. Pain, suffering, and terror all rolled into one. He had a sudden urge to empty his stomach; the wrongness was getting stronger. Closer. Panicking suddenly, he ran. Where was the doorway, he should have - there! Twisting the knob quickly, he slipped through, and then let himself drop in relief, that wrongness cut off as he slammed the door shut. He gasped for breath.

"Jumping at shadows," he grumbled after a moment, abruptly feeling like a fool. Gathering himself, he stood. The room was the same as before; made of crystal, with the statue of Ryoko in the center. Idly he wondered which mind had made it up, his, or his double's. Frowning for a moment, he looked at the statue. "Where is he, anyway?" Almost before the words were out his mouth, his ghost appeared. He seemed... thinner than before, even more misty.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he said, grinning dryly. Tenchi frowned, and wondered if his double knew just what he looked like to him.

"There was something... wrong out there," he said, and his ghost sobered.

"Something that reminded you of pain, of suffering? You're probably sensing Kain, or his miasma. He's got that sort of an effect on a person," he said. Tenchi nodded, if a little doubtfully. "Anyway, I have a message."

"Who from?" he asked. His ghost frowned slightly.

"Ryoko. She came a little out of her fever, and muttered over and over, 'Black flower," he said, before frowning again. "We're not sure what it means either, but Ayeka pointed out that her and Ryoko's first meeting-"

"Was in a flower field!" said Tenchi, understanding. His ghost nodded.

"There's something else. When Washu sent us back to stop Kain the first time, she sent along some special chips that replaced mom, dad, and grandpa's memories of the time that we were there with a 'normal' memory. After Ryoko came out and muttered that, Washu played a hunch and scanned her for signs of the same. They turned up positive. She can't reconstruct the original memory, but it's something to think about," he told him. Tenchi nodded again.

"Aunt sent some along with us, to use on Ayeka and Ryoko after we finish," he confirmed. His ghost nodded.

"I'll pass that along," he told him. Tenchi nodded, and then paused.

"Can I ask you something?" His ghost shrugged.

"I can't promise I'll be able to answer, but go ahead," he said. Tenchi frowned, nodding.

"How do you do it? Live in... for lack of a better expression, exciting times?" he asked. For a wonder, his ghost laughed.

"'May you live in exciting times!'" he quoted. "To tell you the honest truth, I don't know. Like I said on the message, when Kiyone first arrived, she asked how we'd all ended up together. Mihoshi said, 'Well, all I can say is that things just kinda developed this way.' It's pretty true. Things just develop, and all that I can do is hang on and hope that I don't slip."

"That about covers what I'm doing now," sighed Tenchi. "Holding on with my fingernails. Do you draw?" he asked abruptly. His double blinked.

"Not very often. Every once in awhile I'll try my hand, but I'm not really very good," he said. Tenchi grinned just slightly.

"You might be surprised," he said dryly. "Right now, I feel like I've been given a half-done image and been asked to finish it through somebody else's hands and eyes," he said, frowning down at his own hands. His ghost nodded slightly.

"I think that I understand," he said, and then nodded toward the statue. "Ryoko tried to teach me something once, but it took me awhile to understand it was a lesson. You see, Washu built a machine that let you build your own perfect world. The girls accidentally overloaded it and we started shifting through the worlds that they'd programmed." He grinned.

"In one, we took the places of the characters in the Demon of Rashomon; in another, we all went to high school together." His ghost paused, his eyes seeming far off. "Ryoko's world was... sort of like Bonnie and Clyde, except that she and I were the gangsters, and we never got caught. We robbed from one side of the US to the other. That was Ryoko's idea - I didn't have much choice but to go along. But in between the robberies, while we were out on the road, driving... It's kind of humbling to admit it, but before then I'd never really seen her.. I'm not sure how to describe it. Her... real self. Not just her wildness -Ryoko, instead of The Space Pirate, so to speak." He shook his head.

"Maybe it was just that before then, with all the other girls around, she was afraid to let it come out, or maybe I just didn't want to see it before then. But I think I started to realize that she wasn't there just because she wanted to make my life difficult. Anyway, we finally did get back home, to the real world... At the cost of Ryoko giving up hers." He shook his head ruefully.

"When Washu appeared, she explained that, while she had been able to delete the rest of the worlds manually, since Ryoko had been the first to use the machine, she had to renounce it before Washu could delete it. I was actually surprised when Ryoko didn't want to leave, but not for the right reason. I thought - then - that she was just being selfish, and... I hurt her quite a bit when I said as much. It never even occurred to me that she wanted to stay because she believed I was enjoying it as much as she was. She caught me completely off guard when she asked me if I wasn't having fun too. I couldn't answer her... because the answer frightened me a little. I had been, and it had been seeing Ryoko, instead of The Space Pirate that I'd been enjoying." He paused, and shook his head again.

"She disappeared when I didn't answer, shouting that she'd never renounce her world. She was gone for hours... I honestly was surprised when she came back, and again, it was for the wrong reason. She just appeared, and said, 'Let's go.' It took me a moment to understand she meant home, instead of going on." Slowly, his ghost moved over to the statue, looking at it sadly. "Ryoko never did tell me what happened while she was gone, or what changed her mind. But she did promise that one day, she'd take me on a real journey. That was when we really started getting closer." Frowning, he looked back at Tenchi.

"I said she tried to teach me a lesson, but she wound up teaching me two over that journey. The first was to find some way to enjoy what ever comes. The second was the more important. Sometimes, somebody you thought you understood, you didn't understand at all." He looked up at the statue again, and abruptly his voice hardened; Tenchi blinked in surprise. It was strange, to hear his own voice like that. It sounded... wrong.

"She's been there every single time I needed her, but I've let her down time and time again," he said bitterly. "I always manage to worry about her last, but she still keeps coming back; she never gives up on me. This time, I won't let her down."

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	7. Chapter 7: Kiyone's Law

What Might Have Been Chapter Seven: Kiyone's Law

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

Kiyone was sitting in the station cafeteria, sipping a cup of coffee, and frowning down at the paper she'd found tucked under the mug. On it was an innocuous enough message - Call Aunt Aerenia For Her Birthday at Four tonight. It was the sort of memo anybody might have given to herself, completely harmless. As long as you didn't know the cipher, anyway.

It was something that Kiyone had always had a knack for, memorizing codes and ciphers, and then reading them like a linguist might another language. This particular one was something Nagi had taught her, an all but ancient cipher that bounty hunters often used. It wasn't really all that complex, but it was difficult to recognize as a cipher, unless you knew the sign. The tip off in this message were the I's - instead of being dotted, they had very tiny check marks.

Read with the key, the message became a section number and a time. It had to be Nagi, but Kiyone was debating on if she should go or not. She'd woken up with a small ball of frozen ice in her gut, and when she'd gotten the note, it had only gotten bigger. Something just didn't feel right about it. And then there was the humanoid across the cafeteria that was watching her.

He seemed normal enough at first glance. Average height and build, with slightly vulpine features, and short brown fur covering every inch of exposed skin. But there was something about his eyes that troubled her. They were... distant. Cold. Almost dead. She could feel that gaze, and it was making her skin crawl. It had to be just her imagination, but still...

A long time ago, she had come up with something she called Kiyone's Law. It was sort of a combination of Murphy's Law, and the way she usually managed to wind up in the middle of it. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, just in time for me to get it full in the face, she thought, and it seemed to have been working overtime lately. Somebody finding out, or even just suspecting what they were up to...

"Stop beating yourself up, you're all nerves as it is," she muttered. Finishing the drink, she stood and put a couple credit chips on the table for her waitress. As she walked toward the exit, she saw the strange man rise out of the corner of her eye, and begin to move after her. With an effort of will, she didn't freeze or let herself panic. Instead, she headed toward the promenade of the station. Not exactly laying low, but it'd be a lot easier to lose a tail in that mess.

Kiyone had to assume that somebody had a good idea of what she was about - it might just be a training exercise for one of the rookies, but that would have been too much of a coincidence for her. Turning a few corners, she reached the promenade - glancing at the reflection of a store window, she saw that he was still with her. She stepped into the milling throng of civvies and off-duty cops, and let its flow take her. Mentally, she ran a checklist. With the noise, he'd never be able to hear her; not even the most sensitive nose could pick out her lone scent in this crowd. That meant the only ways he could track her was by sight and DNA. But if he was tracking her by DNA, she'd have been long since gone.

As she moved along, every once in awhile, she'd catch a glimpse of her follower in the window of a shop. Who could have found out, and how? Nagi wouldn't have let it slip, not even by accident, and Mihoshi had stayed in their quarters since they'd arrived. Kiyone had only gone out twice, once to go to the Yagami and signal Washu, and now today to get something better than water to drink. She paused in front a shop, and pretended to inspect the tiny rings and necklaces to give herself time to think.

"Did ya hear about Princess Ayeka and Sasami? Word is they were kidnapped out in the Sol system!" It was only chance that she over heard it; if she hadn't stopped for a moment, she'd never have caught it. She never even saw the speaker, not that it mattered. Suddenly it all clicked - somebody might have heard or known that she was stationed there, and found out she'd arrived on station only three days after they vanished, and then put two and two together. Which meant...

"Oh shit," she muttered. That meant that it didn't matter if she lost her mysterious follower; he already knew enough to see if she had any accomplices. "Ok, Kiyone... How are you going to get out of this mess?" she asked herself. Glancing at the window, she noticed that he'd vanished from sight. On the verge of thinking maybe she'd been over reacting after all, a new thought struck her. "Mihoshi!" If he knew enough about her that he knew where she'd been assigned, then...

Kiyone ran.

  


Mihoshi looked up from the vid-com, as the door chime sounded, blinking. Kiyone had told her not to let anybody come in, but she hadn't said anything about not answering the door... She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, trying to decide if Kiyone had meant not to open the door either. The chime rang again, more insistently, and she decided that she had better answer it - after all, maybe it was something from Nagi. Having chosen to see who it was, Mihoshi got up and went over to the door. Taking a deep breath, she keyed in the open sequence. The door swished aside to reveal a young looking officer with brown fur. He gave her a cool look, as he moved his hand away from the keypad.

"Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu?" he asked, in a nearly toneless voice. Suddenly Mihoshi wasn't so sure that she should have answered the door after all, but it was too late to close it again. Slowly, she nodded. "I am Operative A. I have some questions to ask you. Please move aside so I can enter." An alarm went off in the back of her mind, as she carefully thought out her answer. She wanted Kiyone to be proud of her, so she'd be really careful and not tell him anything she wasn't supposed to.

"I'm not really supposed to let anybody come in, Mr. Operative A. Gee, isn't that kind of a weird name? Wouldn't something like Jim or Bill or Bob or Dave or something be better?" she asked, putting on her most vacant look. That was something Kiyone said she was really good at, being vacant. Operative A blinked, seemingly caught off guard.

"Operative A is the designation I was given-" he started.

"It's just that it sounds like something a secret agent or somebody like that might be called. Are you a secret agent, Mr. Operative A?" she asked.

"No, I-"

"Oh come on, go ahead and admit it, I won't tell anybody, like, 'Operative A is a secret agent!' or something like that. It must be really interesting doing all that spy stuff. Do you have one of those watches that shoots lasers and turn into saws and everything?" she asked him. The man kept starting to open his mouth, but before he could say anything, she'd ask him another question. He was just starting to look like a hunted man when Mihoshi saw Kiyone racing down the hall toward them. She broke into a wide grin. "Oh hi Kiyone, Mr. Operative A was just telling me how much fun it is to be a secret agent, and do you think we'd make good secret agents?" she asked cheerfully.

"Actually, I was just leaving," he said softly, before turning smartly on his heal and striding off quickly. Kiyone came to a stop, watching the officer's back warily. 

"You didn't tell him anything, did you Mihoshi?" she asked, once he was well out of earshot. Mihoshi giggled, pleased with herself. 

"I just did what you say I'm good at," she said. Kiyone's eyebrow rose.

"It's a wonder he stayed as long as he did. You're the only person I know who could torture somebody trying to torture you..." she said, grinning slightly, and then looking to the side as Nagi appeared from the direction Kiyone had come from.

"When you didn't show, I figured something like him might have happened," she said quietly. "You two had better get back inside. Get your gear ready... I'm going to see if I can't do something to take care of our test-tube friend."

  


Operative A moved quickly away from Detective Mihoshi as Detective Kiyone distracted her. This was a new experience for him - he'd never met someone as easily distracted as Mihoshi - or so impossible to get a word in edgewise with. It was as though she was incapable of understanding that he wasn't a secret agent, and that he only wanted to ask her if she had seen anything strange while she and her partner were on patrol. He didn't think that she'd actually stopped to take a breath that entire time - she'd just kept talking and talking.

He'd originally intended to speak with Detective Kiyone, but before he'd decided on the best way to approach her, she'd gotten up and left. Then he'd lost her on the promenade - one moment he'd seen her, the next he'd lost her in a swirl of people. He'd assumed she'd returned to her quarters, and so had gone there. And now he felt almost as though he'd been used for target practice.

Frowning slightly, he turned toward the Special Criminal Retrieval office. He knew that he didn't have enough worldly experience yet to understand fully most humanoids, but Kiyone and Mihoshi both were Galaxy Police officers, so they should understand the importance of answering a few simple questions. He knew that the apparent kidnapping of the Princesses wasn't the GP jurisdiction, but this was what he had been created for, after all, and if Kiyone and Mihoshi could provide some information... In any case, his duty shift was beginning, so he had to report in.

Almost before he'd gotten in the door, Section Commander Nagi signaled the communicator on his cybernetic arm. "Operative A, report to Control immediately."

"On my way, Commander," he replied, turning and going quickly to the main turbolift shaft. "Control, maximum track," he ordered. It beeped, and then the 'lift burst into motion. When the doors swished back open, and Operative A stepped out, Nagi and Station Commander Ragit were waiting for him. Nagi frowned a moment.

"How do you feel your on station training is going?" she finally asked. He blinked, confused; she was better qualified to rate his performance than he was.

"According to my scores, I am completing my tests with well above average-" He paused, as Nagi sighed, and shook her head.

"Perhaps I should rephrase that. Do you think your training is doing you any good, or do you honestly believe that it may not be worthwhile anymore?" she asked. He looked at her, not entirely sure he understood, and said as much. She sighed again in irritation, and glanced at the Station Commander. "Let me put it this way. Are you ready for a solo assignment, in your estimation?" Ah, now he understood. She wanted HIS opinion on the matter.

"Yes, Commander Nagi. I was programmed to be field-ready upon activation. The training can still be of use, but I do not require further training," he answered. Nagi nodded, and looked at the station commander. He nodded.

"Commander Nagi believes that you are ready as well, and as such asked if I would clear you for a retrieval. Although I have my reservations over sending out a rookie so early... I must admit that your scores do reflect those of somebody ready for a greater challenge, and you are something of a special case. That being the fact, I have decided to assign you to a case that we've just been asked for assistance with. Turning slightly, he activated a viewscreen; out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nagi's eye twitch.

"This is the Sol system. Three days ago, Princess Ayeka and Princess Sasami disappeared in this vicinity; Sasami's ship was found drifting, undamaged. Two days ago, the Royal Guardians accessed the GP data banks in order to access information about Detectives Mihoshi and Kiyone, who are, as I'm sure you are aware, on station, arriving just two days ago. I want you to investigate, and see if they are able to give you any leads. Should that be the case, you are authorized to follow up on them in any way necessary." Deactivating the viewscreen, he turned back to him. "Do you understand your orders?" Operative A nodded.

"Yes, sir," he replied.

"Very well, get to then. Dismissed," he ordered. Operative A nodded again, and then turned. As he did, he saw Nagi quickly hide a frown, before turning to the station commander and speak a little too softly for even him to pick up. Shrugging, he turned, and stepped into the turbo lift, already formulating his strategy - preferably avoiding Mihoshi, if he could.

  


Kiyone was just starting to relax when Nagi burst through the doorway, scowling. "Get your gear, we've got to do this right now," she said. Automatically, Kiyone stood up, grabbing the duffel bag she'd just set down. 

"What happened?" she asked, as she shook Mihoshi awake. Nagi laughed ruefully.

"I tried to get Trakal off your scent by having Ragit give him a case, and it backfired on me. He got assigned to Ayeka and Sasami's 'disappearance.' It seems that the Guardians accessed your files the day they landed on Earth," she said. Kiyone winced.

"Of course - Ayeka must have scanned us, and wanted to verify that we were who we said we were through the PDT codes," she said. Nagi nodded.

"Sounds like what I've heard about her - trusting but careful. If I know Trakal, right now he's checking to see if you contacted anybody before you arrived before coming here to actually question you," she said. Kiyone winced again.

"Which will lead him right to you. I'm sorry, Nagi," she sighed. Nagi smirked.

"Ah, I was getting sick of filing reports anyway," she replied. "But come on, let's move it. I faked the logs, but I'm a little out of practice, and I have the feeling it won't take that arm of his long to work through it," she said. Kiyone nodded grimly.

  


Tenchi frowned slightly, as he looked around. Ayeka had said that her younger self would be coming by here today, on her way to the flower field. The plan was to follow her out, and then meet up with the others there, hopefully catching the miasma between the two groups. His mother had secreted herself into the Royal Villa with Ayeka's help, playing the role of Governess while she was there. His father was watching for Ryoko, already out at the field with Sasami and the elder Ayeka

Which left Tenchi, Kei, and Ryo-Ohki to shadow the younger Ayeka and her entourage. He sighed, not seeing any sign of her, and ducked back into the alley where he and Kei were waiting. She gave him a quick grin. "Still no sign of her?" she asked. Tenchi nodded.

"This waiting is going to kill me," he said. "I just want to get this over and done with so we can go home," he sighed. Kei looked at him for a moment, before sighing.

"Are you really that eager to get back to normal life?" she asked him. Tenchi blinked.

"Well, yeah, aren't you? I mean, sure it's nice to have a change of scenery now and then, but a whole different time and world? That's a little drastic for me," he said carefully. Kei sighed again.

"Yeah, I guess..." she said after a moment. Tenchi frowned, knowing that he'd managed to say the wrong thing, even if he wasn't sure how.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he finally asked her. She blinked at him.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, it's just... I was thinking that once we got home and made sure that everything was back to normal, we could maybe... I don't know take a trip together, with Ryo-Ohki," she said quietly. He looked at her in surprise, but as he opened his mouth to reply, he suddenly thought of what his ghost had told him the night before. About hurting Ryoko when he'd asked her to give up her world, and why it had hurt her. Quickly, he changed what he'd been about to say.

"Well... once we get home, who knows? But before we can get home, we have to settle here, right? Once we do that... well, Ayeka did invite us to be guests on Jurai, didn't she?" he said, smiling. "And from there... who knows?" Kei blinked at him, and then grinned broadly.

"Yeah," she agreed. Tenchi smiled at her, but before they could say anything else Ryo-Ohki miyaed loudly, and they both looked out of the alley just in time to see the young Ayeka go by, flanked by the Guardians and his mother. Achika caught his eye as she went by, smiling encouragingly, before disappearing around the corner. Tenchi looked at Kei.

"Let's go," he said. She nodded, pausing to put on the sunglasses Washu had given her. In the shade of the alley, she hadn't needed them, but now that they were heading into more direct sunlight...

They stepped out in to the street, slowly strolling along just within sight of Ayeka's party. Tenchi put his arm around Kei's waist as they looked. Anybody that looked at them would have seen just a happy couple - and they would have been right, he mused. They just wouldn't have known the whole truth. 

Ayeka's group wound its way through the city. Tenchi had been surprised when the elder Ayeka had told them that only the Guardians would be along as protection for her. She had explained that the entire planet was basically just one huge summer retreat for the royal family - its population was servants and caretakers, and none were allowed on the planet unless they'd been heavily screened. With the codes she had gotten from her ship, Ayeka had been able to get them onto the surface with no questions asked - at least until if got back to Jurai proper that they had been used. Once that happened, a small military force would be sent to inquire.

"A small military force, she said. Just a couple hundred warships," he laughed. Kei glanced at him.

"Hmm?" she asked, and he grinned.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about Ayeka's idea of a 'small' fleet," he said. Kei chuckled.

"Yeah, I have to admit, two or three hundred does seem a bit excessive, doesn't it?" she said, grinning. He nodded, as they continued walking. Up ahead, young Ayeka's party took a turn; they hurried a little to catch up. As they went around the corner, Tenchi felt the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stand on end. He paused, frowning, and looked around. For a moment, he thought he smelled... something like a freshly overturned grave, but almost as he noticed it, the scent vanished. Kei tugged at his arm. "Hey, come on, before we lose them," she said softly. Tenchi blinked, and looked at her.

"Do you smell anything... I don't know, kinda musty?" he asked her. Kei shook her head slowly.

"No, why?" she asked, frowning. Tenchi looked around again, and then shook his head.

"Never mind," he said. It must have been just his imagination, but it had smelled almost familiar... He shook his head again. "Let's go," he said, and she nodded. They hurried after Ayeka and the rest of her group.

  


As the boy paused, and began to turn, the entity quickly melded itself with the building next to it. The boy's gaze swept over it, and after a moment he and the girl started moving again. It waited until they had stepped out of sight, and then came out of hiding.

The girl had at first appeared to be one of its targets - one of the two duplicates it had sensed, but this close to her it sensed that she was only a copy, likely sent to draw it out. But no… it had outsmarted them. It would wait. Then, once they were all together, it would strike, killing the originals first and then the copies, just to be sure. Then He would be pleased. Knowing this, the entity began to flow after them, keeping to shadows so it remained hidden.

  


Operative A sat down at his computer station, and connected to the station's main computer through his arm's interface. Logging on, he accessed the main logs, and then frowned a moment. Kiyone and Mihoshi had arrived at 0600 hours. Backtracking a little, he was surprised to find that the log files appeared to have been altered. He frowned. It wouldn't take him long to reconstruct the original data, but first he would have to get permission to unlock the system so he could delve deeper into it for tracks. Logging off, he turned to the intercom, and then paused. He'd been ordered to investigate the matter, and follow up on any leads. Commander Ragit had given him permission to use any means necessary to do that, and this was a possible lead…

After a moment, he turned back to the station, and logged back in. Activating his internal data probe, he sat back and waited for the reconstruction to begin.

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	8. Chapter 8: The Price of a Soul

What Might Have Been Chapter Eight: The Price of a Soul

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

Achika caught herself looking around for the miasma, and mentally sighed. It wouldn't attack until Ayeka and Ryoko came together, she reminded herself, and they wouldn't come together until they reached the flower field. They were all in position, and as ready as they could be. Still, she couldn't help but wonder where Ryoko was. Nobuyuki, Ayeka and Sasami still hadn't seen her. She just hoped that she wouldn't cut it too closely. Sighing again, she glanced down as little Ayeka tugged on the hem of her dress.

"Governess, why do you walk beside me, instead of behind me, as other servants do?" she asked. Achika winced inwardly, knowing that she should have been paying more attention to where she was. After a moment, she replied.

"Because, Princess Ayeka, I prefer to think of those in my charge as friends, rather than Masters or Mistresses. It is more enjoyable to spend time with them, then," she said. Ayeka's brow furrowed as she thought about that.

"But… I am of the nobility, and you are only of the common people," she said, frowning in curiosity. Achika felt her eyebrow twitch.

"True. Does that mean we can not be friends?" she asked, with a slight smile. Ayeka quickly shook her head, and Achika smiled wider. "Perhaps it is easier if you think of it this way. The nobility is made up of people, and the commoners are made of people. Both are people," she said. Ayeka frowned.

"So… You are saying that they are the same?" she asked. "But, if that is true, then why do we consider them separate?" she countered. Achika smiled again, racing for an answer.

"Because, sometimes, some people like to think that they are better than others. It's very rare that it is true, but sadly, it happens. They believe that, because they were born to a certain family, or a certain line, they are more special than somebody not born to that line or family," she said, before smiling. "But there's a secret that you should remember, and I'll only tell you if you promise to never forget," she said. Ayeka brightened, and Achika grinned. Just like Tenchi; he never could resist a secret.

"I promise, Governess," she said. 

"Alright. Remember very well, no matter who they're born to, all children are special, especially to their mothers," she said. For a moment, Ayeka turned that particular idea over, while they continued to walk. Then suddenly, a bright smile blossomed on her little face - Achika was taken aback by how much like Sasami's freckle-faced smile Ayeka's was at this age.

"Governess, what is your name?" she asked. Achika blinked, but cautiously answered.

"My name is Achika," she said. Ayeka smiled again.

"Then you must call me Ayeka, and I will call you Achika, since we are friends, yes?" she said. Achika blinked, and then smiled.

"As you wish, Ayeka," she replied. Ayeka giggled softly, slipping her tiny hand into Achika's. She breathed a short sigh of relief. That was pretty much how things had gone since she'd been slipped into the position of Governess. She'd do something that a real governess wouldn't have done, Ayeka would question her about it, and she would race to find an acceptable answer. So far, she'd always managed to come up with something to satisfy her, but she truly feared a big slip before they stopped the miasma. Something like that would be disastrous, possibly altering the timeline even further. Then again, just being here was altering the timeline, she reminded herself. Or was it? She sighed.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she blinked, surprised that she hadn't thought of it before now. "Ayeka, may I ask a question?" she said. Ayeka nodded.

"Certainly, Achika," she said. Achika smiled.

"Have you ever met a little girl about your age with golden eyes?" she asked. It was a long-shot, she knew, but still worth asking. Not surprisingly though, Ayeka shook her head.

"Not that I remember, no, but one of my nannies had golden eyes. I remember her because she was one of my favorites, except one day Father came and made her leave. I remember Mother was very upset as well. She liked her a lot too." she said. Sighing inwardly, she briefly wondered why the nanny had been sent away. Probably caught with her hand in the royal jewelry box. "She was really very pretty," continued Ayeka, "especially with her silver hair. But her tummy started getting bigger just before Father sent her away." Achika stumbled, nearly falling flat on her face in surprise.

"What young kids notice that adults never do. Hand in the royal jewelry box indeed," she muttered, as she regained her balance. Ayeka was giggling.

"Are you ok, Achika?" she asked. Achika smiled at her briefly.

"Fine, just fine," she assured her. Ayeka giggled again, and again Achika thought of how much like Sasami she was at this age.

"You should not be so clumsy, if you are to set an example for me," she said. Achika laughed weakly.

"No, I suppose that I shouldn't," she said. Inwardly, she wondered what twist of fate had thrown that curveball at them. Abruptly she grinned, remembering all the fights Ryoko and Ayeka had gotten into while they'd stayed with her and her father. She remembered wondering once or twice if they were sisters, to fight so often but still be so close. "More than I knew," she said aloud. "More than either of them knew, that's for sure."

"More than who knew, Achika?" asked Ayeka. Achika grinned.

"Some friends I was just thinking of. Sisters," she replied, before laughing. Ayeka smiled.

"Will you tell me about them?" she asked. Achika grinned.

"Sure. One, you see, was a lady, from an old and very powerful family. The other was a space pirate, known the galaxy over…"

  


As his cybernetic arm beeped, Operative A glanced up at the screen. Although his arm could have fed the information directly into his mind, he'd found that most people seemed a bit more comfortable around him when he actually read it off the screen. He found that the reconstruction had been completed; nodding, he brought up the repaired records. "Search for any communications from Ranger-class cruiser Yagami," he ordered the computer. Almost immediately, it brought up the single transmission, which had been routed to… Operative A blinked in surprise, as he opened his comlink, and said, "Operative A to Commander Nagi." He paused a moment, but no reply came through. Frowning, he repeated the call, but still, there was no answer. "Computer, is Section Commander Nagi's comlink down?"

"Section Commander Nagi shut down her comlink at 1934 hours." Frowning, he leaned back in the chair a moment to think all this through logically. Nagi had been contacted by Kiyone and Mihoshi. Nagi had tried to dissuade him from investigating the Ayeka and Sasami disappearance. Kiyone and Mihoshi's files had been accessed by the Guardians of Jurai. Kiyone and Mihoshi had been reluctant to answer questions. Immediately after trying to talk to them, Nagi had had him assigned to a case that likely would have taken him off station, had Kiyone and Mihoshi not been here to question first. Nagi had been surprised and unhappy that he'd been given this case, which officially required he question Kiyone and Mihoshi…

"Computer, access academy files on Kiyone Makibi and Mihoshi Kuramitsu. Cross-match classes that they took with classes that Section Commander Nagi taught," he said, and again, a single reference appeared on the screen. Both had trained under Nagi for covert operations. His frown deepened. That still wasn't proof, but… "Computer, initiate a full lockout of the Yagami's computer systems, and locate Officers Nagi, Kiyone and Mihoshi."

"Lock-out of Yagami confirmation code?"

"Delta Gamma Delta Alpha."

"Identity confirmation code?"

"Operative A, ID confirmation code, 'I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down.'"

"Identity confirmed, lock-out confirmed. Officers Nagi, Kiyone and Mihoshi are all in the subspace room," said the computer after a moment. He nodded, unhooking his arm from the main computer.

"On my way, alert the station commander."

  


Kiyone was frowning at the lock to Kain's particular prison in the subspace net, as she quickly opened up her satchel. Removing the box, she began to pull out wires and connections. Nagi squatted beside her. "Well?"

"They must have upgraded the locking mechanism, this isn't the same as what Washu showed me. I can still hook it all up, but I'll need a moment to find all the new placement points. There shouldn't be any trouble - all I'm really worried about are the last six wires," she said.

"Why the last six?" asked Nagi. Kiyone looked at her.

"They have to be placed in a specific sequence, and in under a minute," she said.

"Or?"

"Or the power connection to the main lock gets cut by the security system, and Kain gets out," said Kiyone dryly. Nagi nodded.

"Remind me not to interrupt you," she replied. Kiyone nodded. "Mihoshi and I will cover the door. Hustle, by now Trakal has probably reconstructed the logs, and is on his way here," she finished, before moving back over to the blast door. Kiyone frowned again, before removing the cover plate, and starting to hook the wires in one by one. On the box, multi-colored lights began to flash on and off in sequence, confirming that the wires were in at the right places. After a few minutes, a timer appeared, flashing 60 seconds. Now she paused, and studied the lock again for a moment. If she messed up now…

Kiyone took a deep breath.

Slipping in the first wire started out the timer. Frowning in concentration, she added the second, third, and then the fourth. She was just picking up the fifth, when Kiyone's Law finally kicked into effect. There was a shout from the doorway.

"Freeze. Drop your weapons, raise your hands, and move away from the device," growled the fox-faced officer - Trakal, Nagi had called him. Kiyone glanced at the time. Forty-five seconds.

"Stand down, Operative A," ordered Nagi. He glanced at her.

"Section Commander Nagi, until your role in this conspiracy has been determined, I regret to inform you that I can not follow your orders. I repeat, drop your weapons, and move away from the device," he repeated. Kiyone risked looking at him.

"Look, if I don't make these last two connections in the next thirty seconds, Kain will escape and we're all going to die," she told him. Trakal frowned at her.

"That device has not been cleared through Control. You are under arrest for conspiracy, mutiny, and kidnapping. Main security has been alerted and is on its way," he replied. Kiyone frowned, as she glanced back at the timer. Ten seconds left.

"Screw it," she muttered, as she scooped up the sixth connection; in her puerperal vision, she registered him raising his hand. Ignoring him, she jammed the fifth connection home, and was just starting to push the last one in as he fired. She jumped in anticipation of being hit.

The startled sound of pain that she heard as the connection slid home wasn't her own; the timer stopped flashing at five. She turned, and blinked at what she saw. Nagi was standing with her blaster aimed at Trakal's forehead. Trakal was staring at Nagi in surprise from below a hole that had partly obliterated his skull. He blinked, and slowly started to turn toward her. Recentering her blaster, she icily fired three more times, blowing a hole through his heart and then blasting off the cybernetic arm. With a final groan, he toppled and then lay still.

Slowly, Kiyone's eyes swept to the right, where Trakal had been aiming, and saw Mihoshi. The blonde was standing with her back to Kiyone, but even as her gaze settled on her, she began to turn. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nagi's eyes widen in abruptly. Mihoshi completed her turn, and gave Kiyone her usual wide, goofy, slightly absent smile.

"Did I do good, Kiyone?" she asked, before she stumbled, leaned heavily against the wall beside her, and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Though she tried to fight it, Kiyone's gaze slowly moved down from Mihoshi's face, to where a dark stain was spreading out from between her breasts. With a snapping sensation, time started moving again, and Kiyone scrambled over to her, the box forgotten for the moment. 

"Mihoshi? Come on, stick with us here!" she said, lightly slapping her partner's cheeks.. Mihoshi grinned at her drowsily.

"I'm kinda tired, Kiyone. Can I take a nap now?" she asked, as her eyes started to slide shut. Kiyone shook her lightly.

"No Mihoshi, you have to stay awake, it's very important. Do you hear me? You have to stay awake!" she told her, as Nagi knelt beside them. Gently, she peeled away Mihoshi's tunic, and then winced as she lightly probed the wound with her fingertips. Kiyone winced too, as Mihoshi whimpered in pain. The hole wasn't very big; roughly a quarter-inch wide, and nestled just above and to the right of square between her breasts. She didn't need Nagi's slight head shake to know the truth.

"If the bullet didn't pierce her heart, it hit the aorta. It's just a matter of time," she said softly. Kiyone nodded numbly.

"So… tired," mumbled Mihoshi. "Can I please go… to sleep, Kiyone?" Kiyone looked at her, with a sort of painful horror slowly spreading through her. If she told Mihoshi to stay awake, she'd try, right up until her body finally just gave out… Nagi looked at her quietly, and slowly, sadly, Kiyone nodded.

"Yeah, Mihoshi. You did really good. You can sleep now," she said at last. Mihoshi smiled widely at her, as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Good… night, Kiyone. See you… in the morning," she sighed. Then her head slumped forward, and she was still. Kiyone squeezed her eyes shut, as her grip on Mihoshi's shoulder involuntarily tightened.

"Mihoshi… Why did you do that, you stupid girl?" she asked softly. Nagi put a hand on Kiyone's shoulder. 

"Because she was your partner. You were more important to her than anything else, even her own life," she told her quietly. "Look… as much as I'd like to say that we have the time, the shots fired had to have set off the alarms, on the off chance that he really hadn't called Security. Do you need to do anything else with that box? Otherwise, we gotta leave, right now." Kiyone slowly nodded, and turned before she opened her eyes. Making herself let go of Mihoshi, she turned to the box, and keyed in the final sequence. Beeping, it floated up and nestled itself into the locking mechanism, and then vanished.

"There," she said slowly. "Washu said it can't be found, now - the box is slightly out of phase." Nagi nodded, and gave her a light pull toward the exit. Kiyone paused, looking at Mihoshi's still form a moment longer. Nagi gave her another, stronger pull.

"Come on, Kiyone," she said, gently but firmly. "Don't make her death a moot point, you can sob later. We'll need to escape on the Yagami," she said. Kiyone let herself be pulled along, moving mechanically as Nagi directed her. Why did she feel so… alone, suddenly? Hadn't she wanted to be rid of Mihoshi? She'd been a pest, had required more attention than the sector that they'd been assigned to. But Nagi had already given her the answer to her questions.

Mihoshi had been her partner, nothing less, and much more. And now she was dead, killed by a bullet that had been meant for Kiyone. If she hadn't inserted those last two wires, they'd all be dead and gone, but that didn't change the fact that Trakal had been aiming for her, and Mihoshi had jumped between them to give her time to make that last connection.

"Come on Kiyone, let's get this bucket going!" ordered Nagi. Kiyone blinked, and realized that they'd arrived at the Yagami. She forced herself to put her pains aside, and focus.

"Right… Looks like Trakal activated the computer lock," she said, after a moment. 

"Damn. I can work through it, but -" started Nagi, and then broke off as Kiyone shook her head, grinning slightly.

"Don't bother. That box wasn't Washu's only trick. "Yagami, activate master override, passcode, 'Washu is the greatest genius in the entire universe,'" she said. Nagi gave her a wry smirk, as the control panels unlocked and the ship's engines began to power up.

"At this point, I'm rather inclined to agree. Let's get moving."

  


"Sir, patrol ship Yagami has overridden the computer lock-out, and is uncoupling from the station. Should we scramble fighters to pursue?" shouted one deck officer through the chaos that was Control. Ragit looked up at the monitors briefly. Had Nagi been planning on causing all this? he wondered briefly.

"No. Return station to normal status, and do not pursue," he said quietly, his voice slicing through the noise. There would be repercussions for this, he knew. A top detective and Operative A both dead, and the Subspace Room breached, even if nothing had been released.

"But Sir!"

"It wouldn't be any use. Commander Nagi knows more ways to lose a pursuer than any ten smugglers, and even if they did manage to stay with her, with the armament on Yagami, she'd have no trouble taking them down. I won't waste time, or lives on it. We've already lost one life today; that's one too many," he said.

"Yes, Sir," the officer replied after a moment. Ragit nodded, as alarms and alerts began to shut down. He'd been surprised, when Nagi had told him the truth, only hours before, after he'd given Trakal the assignment that she'd all but begged him to give. That had struck him off guard; Nagi never begged, not for anything. At first, he'd almost called Security, but… There had been something in her eyes that had made him pause. 

They'd been friends a long time, Nagi and him; almost since he'd first joined the academy, and bumped into the then apprentice hunter on his way to one of his classes. It had been him that had offered her the position of Section Commander of Special Criminal Retrieval, after she'd lost Ken-Ohki. She'd lost more than just her spaceship and partner, though… Nagi had lost a strange sort of invincibility that she'd always had as a bounty hunter.

But that flicker had been there, when she'd told him what Kiyone had told her. If it had of been anybody else, he'd never have believed what she'd said, or did as she asked. But he knew her, and knew that she wouldn't have helped them if she hadn't have believed. Even then, he might not have agreed to put his own career on the line, except that he'd seen that flicker, deep in her eyes.

"Good luck, old friend. I hope that we'll meet again," he murmured as the Yagami vanished off the scopes, before turning back to the deck officer. "I'd like you to take care of something personally."

"Yes, sir?"

"See to it that Operative A's remains are placed in a stasis box marked 'Dysfunctional,' and shipped back to R&D, along with my recommendations that the project be terminated immediately," he ordered. The deck officer nodded.

"Yes, Sir. May I ask, Sir, what it is you'll be doing?" he asked. Ragit sighed.

"Three things, actually. Writing up my official report on what occurred. Terminating Nagi and Kiyone's contracts. And arranging a funeral for Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu."

  


Nagi looked over at Kiyone, as the Yagami sped away from the Galaxy Police headquarters. The younger woman was staring blankly out of the view port, so she reached over and keyed in the ship's internal dampening field. Until they could get far enough away to remove their PDT's, it would prevent anybody from tracking them. Ragit had promised her that he would cancel out any pursuits, but still, better safe than sorry.

They flew in silence for an hour, Nagi quietly piloting the ship while Kiyone continued to stare off into nothing. She knew what Kiyone was going through, all too well, unfortunately. Every once in awhile she still got a remembered throb of pain from Ken-Ohki's death, which had been nearly fifteen years ago, now. Finally, though, she spoke up. "Hey, are you going to be alright?" Kiyone blinked a couple of times, and then looked at her as if surprised to see her there.

"Huh? Oh, Nagi," she said after a moment, and then paused. "Yeah, I was just thinking," she said quietly. Nagi glanced over at her.

"About?" she prompted.

"When I first met Mihoshi. She tripped over something or other, and ended up knocking me down too. Our data books went flying, and in the confusion I accidentally picked up one of hers. When I found out, I went to return it to her, and she invited me in for awhile." She paused, shaking her head. "By the time that I finally went back to my quarters, it was almost time for my first class, but I was so tired that I slept right through it."

"So why did you stay so long?" asked Nagi.

"I'm not sure, even now. I guess that it was because, in a way, she kinda seemed lonely. A lot like me. Neither of us had any friends. She had a reputation for being a klutz, and I was too quiet for most. Mihoshi kinda latched onto me, after that," said Kiyone quietly.

"It's surprising how you can get so used to having somebody around that you take them for granted, even if you think you'd be far better off without them, isn't it?" mused Nagi, as she produced a small locket, and handed it to Kiyone. She gave her a curious look as she opened it. Inside, Nagi knew, was a picture of a man a few years younger than Kiyone. "My older brother, when he was seventeen. Oh, I hated him. He teased me, pulled my hair, called me names, got me in trouble. You name it, he probably did it. Never anything to really hurt me, but you get the idea."

"Where is he now?" asked Kiyone. Nagi smiled sadly.

"Buried, along with my parents and sister. Know how he died? Carrying me through the plasma fire that gutted our house. He went back in to try to rescue our sister - she was the youngest," she said. Kiyone blinked, as she slowly handed the locket back to her. For a moment, Nagi looked at the picture closely. "Like I said, it's surprising how you can take a person for granted. I thought that I hated my brother, and that he hated me. Turned out that I was wrong on both counts." She paused, looking at Kiyone.

"I also wasn't expecting to feel as alone as I did, without him around to keep me on my toes. It was a bit different than how I missed my parents, or my sister. After all, I'd known that someday, I'd be moving on past my parents. But somewhere along the line, I'd gotten the idea in my head that he'd always be around to bother me. Funny thing is, after awhile, two or three months after the house burned down and I moved in with my grandparents, I started noticing little movements out of the corner of my eye, or feeling light tugs on my hair. You understand what I'm saying?" she finished quietly. Kiyone frowned at her a moment.

"He was still with you… and Mihoshi is still with me," she said. Nagi nodded.

"That's the general idea. There are plenty of cultures that believe the dead hear us when we think of them. I never really put much stock in organized religion myself, but even so, I still find myself thinking about my family at least once a week." Then she smiled just slightly. "Besides, I just thought of something."

"What's that?" asked Kiyone. Nagi smirked.

"Well, Mihoshi is still around to pester you - in the other timeline," she pointed out. Kiyone blinked.

"I suppose that she is, isn't she?" she said, after a moment. "And probably driving me out of my mind, or at least, my double out of hers." Slowly, she nodded, and then smiled slightly. "Right. Ok, pass control over to me, and I'll set a course for Earth." After a moment, she added, "Thanks, Nagi." Nagi grinned slightly, as Kiyone started entering in the course.

"So, tell me something. Have you ever considered being a bounty hunter?"

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	9. Chapter 9: The Beginning of the Tale

What Might Have Been Chapter Nine: The Beginning of the Tale

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

When they finally reached the flower field, Tenchi realized that in no uncertain terms they really had arrived. He'd been picturing a small park, or maybe a little walled garden when Ayeka said flower field, at most a reasonably sized clearing on the outskirts of town. She'd made it sound like something small, after all. In hindsight, he realized, he should have considered what Ayeka thought of as 'small.' They'd still been following Ayeka's party, and had been climbing a hill. He'd been looking at Kei as they crested it, and seen her eyes go wide behind her sunglasses.

"What is it?" he asked. Kei just slowly pointed ahead of them, her jaw hanging slack. He turned, and felt his own jaw drop as he did. The quaint little park that he'd been picturing was blown away by the unending field of wildflowers that literally stretched as far as they could see. "Remind me to ask Ayeka to define her idea of big and small," he said dryly, after a long moment. Kei nodded slowly, as they started forward again. "Can you see Dad and the others?" he asked, looking around. Kei shook her head.

"No, but they must be nearby," she said. Ahead of them, little Ayeka was running down the hill toward the field. Lightly, he touched Tenchi-ken, and remembered what the elder Ayeka had told him. 

"Sword Tenchi is a tool created to focus the Jurai power into a blade of light, but until now, only Yosho had the strength to use it. According to the legend, it will only lend its aide to one with great need," she'd said.

"It's a sword?" he'd asked.

"It can be. But legend says that it was created for a higher purpose than to take life. It was born of Tsunami, the Juraian Tree of Life; it has long been wondered why she would create a weapon only of death," she'd replied. The conversation still mystified him more than a little. Still, as long as it worked when he needed it to… Up ahead, Achika was signaling them forward; the Guardians were floating lazily along behind the Princess. Tenchi and Kei looked at each other, and then hurried to catch up to his mother.

"Keep your eyes open," she said quietly, as they reached her. "It'll happen any time now." Tenchi and Kei nodded.

"Right," said Kei. Achika smiled at them briefly, and then drifted forward. Kei turned to him. "What now?"

"Now, we keep our eyes open," he said, grinning dryly. She gave him a flat look, and then looked around. They were surrounded in wildflowers now, reds and yellows and oranges, even a few violet buds that seemed bunched into a more or less small area. In a corner of his mind, a soft alarm suddenly started going off for some inexplicable reason, and in the back of his head a thought glimmered at him. Before he could dwell on it though, Kei tapped his shoulder.

"Look!" she said, pointing. He followed her line of sight, and then he saw her. She looked a couple years younger than Ayeka, five instead of seven, but there was no mistaking the golden eyes and cyan hair. She was running down the hill in their direction; not far behind her was his father and the others. "So that's Ryoko," said Kei quietly. "Is it just me, or does she vaguely remind you of Sasami?" she asked. Tenchi blinked, and took a closer look at her. That hair was a bit lighter, but she wore it in a pair of pigtails… He nodded.

"Yeah, she does, actually - I think it's the hair," he agreed. But now that she'd appeared, that alarm was getting louder with each step closer that she took, and that nagging feeling there was something he was missing… He turned slightly, looking back at the purple flowers that seemed to have set it off in the first place. "Flowers…" he said. The violet flowers really were rather close together, and he couldn't see any other dark patches anywhere, near or far. He started to frown slightly, as he looked back at Ryoko. He saw now that her path would take her almost right through the middle of that small patch…

"Huh?" asked Kei, but he shook his head. He saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see that Ayeka was coming toward them as well. Then his eyes were drawn back to the purple wildflowers.

"Purple flowers…"

"What about… Oh, you mean those black flowers there? Yeah, you'd think they'd remove the dead ones," said Kei. Tenchi's eyes widened as Kei gave him the clue, at the same time he abruptly detected a stale, musty odor, an odor that he remembered all too well from his dream.

"He said that she partly woke up and said 'Black flower' over and over again! But she meant purple!" he exclaimed, his hand snatching Tenchi-ken from his belt. "It's here! Hidden in those flowers! The miasma is here!" he shouted. Somehow, he wasn't all that surprised when the blade really did flicker to life. 

Everything fell to pieces, even as it did.

  


"It's here! Hidden in those flowers! The miasma is here!" shouted Tenchi, as Kei suddenly understood what he was so worried about. She saw Ryoko, almost into the patch, and the patch of black flowers suddenly writhing as Tenchi's sword ignited. With a shout, she lunged at Ryoko, tackling her just before her foot landed in the patch.

As they landed, she felt a shadow fall over her, and looked up in just enough time to see a huge, formless black blob fall over her. Instinctively, she put out her hands to try to hold it back, already knowing that it was too late.

  


Achika turned as Tenchi shouted, in time to see Kei throw herself at Ryoko, and Kain's miasma explode up and out of the ground. The miasma turned slightly, before Tenchi could react, and fell over Kei and Ryoko. "No! Kei!" she shouted. Tenchi hesitated, probably afraid of accidentally stabbing one of the girls.

Then suddenly, something blasted through the miasma. Achika stared as a second, and then a third blast punched through, finally seeing what it was - a small, orange fireball that she remembered so well. Cut nearly in half, the miasma rolled off, and Kei scrambled away. Kei scrambled away, hugging Ryoko close to her. Tenchi grimly advanced on the blob.

  


Tenchi felt his heart stop, as the miasma fell on them, any words he might have said frozen along with the rest of his body. Then, a moment later, a moment that felt like a lifetime, the miasma jerked as a fireball blasted its way through, followed by two more. Seemingly dizzied, it flowed away, leaving Kei to scramble away with Ryoko.

"Are you alright?" he shouted, as he closed on the blob.

"Fine. She thought it was fun. Personally, I'm a little shaken," she called back. The miasma quivered for a moment, and then suddenly rolled toward little Ayeka, who was staring in shock.

"Oh no you don't!" growled Tenchi, dashing up and slashing savagely downward. He thought he heard a somehow silent scream, as a chunk of the miasma flew off, and it paused, shaken. Then the chunk he'd just cut off shivered, and flowed back into the main mass. "That's… not a good thing, is it?" he muttered. He saw his mother rushing up to grab Ayeka, and moved to block the miasma's attack, slicing away the tendril it threw at them.

As it shivered, and rejoined, Tenchi had the sense of it turning to him, seeming to puff up even larger. "So that got your attention, did it?" he said, and then dodged as four tentacles lanced out at him, slashing at one that got too close. "I guess so," he muttered. As the severed tentacle fell to the ground, he tried stabbing it with his sword to pin it down. It merely flowed around the glowing blade. Tenchi started to sweat.

  


Ayeka frowned from where she watched Tenchi fighting off the miasma, wishing she could think of a way to help. But her powers lay along the lines of defense, not offence, and Sasami had not begun to manifest her abilities at all, yet. Tenchi hacked off yet another tendril the miasma sent at him, and it shivered, getting ready to rejoin the main mass. Suddenly she did get an idea.

"Azaka! Kamadake! Trap what Lord Tenchi cuts off inside force shields, so that it may not rejoin the main creature!" she shouted, as the two Guardians floated in between Achika and her younger self and the miasma. As they heard her, they slowly rotated toward her, as if confused. Ayeka winced. Of course - they wouldn't recognize her yet at this age. They would be keyed in on her younger self, and recognize her voice, but at this distance they couldn't identify her. She looked at Sasami, who could only shrug helplessly.

Back down on the field, Kamadake turned toward her younger self, as if listening to something. Then he abruptly rotated back to the battle, and a moment later one of the tendrils was trapped. She grinned broadly. Her younger self must have ordered them to help. Now, as Tenchi cut off the tentacles, a force bubble appeared around the severed limb, and the miasma began to slowly shrink.

"We're winning!" cheered Sasami. Ayeka nodded, smiling. It did appear to be so.

  


As the miasma's attacks began to slow, Tenchi knew that the fight was drawing to a close. It was down to less than half its original size now, the Guardians holding the other pieces away. Tenchi bided his time, waiting for a hole to open in its defense where he could strike a more convincing blow. He'd seen something once or twice, a small, white spot that never quite lost its shape. He was certain that was the miasma's brain; it looked like the strange, three-eyed mask that had been Kain's face.

Abruptly, he found it; the mask appeared again. Slicing through one tentacle, and ducking another, he stepped in, thrusting forward with all of his strength. Tenchi-ken's blade slid in almost too easily, and he heard that silent scream again. The miasma writhed, and then suddenly fell to the ground with a splash, losing its cohesion with a startling abruptness. Slowly, it drained away, into the ground, even the pieces shielded by the Guardians.

For a moment, he remained ready, suspicious of a trap. But the miasma didn't reappear, and after a minute, Tenchi let the sword go out. "That… wasn't so tough…" he said, a little surprised. Then abruptly, as his mind relaxed and he lost his battle concentration, the exhaustion of it all hit him. He staggered, wincing at his burning lungs and watery knees. How long HAD he been fighting, anyway? It hadn't seemed like it was too long, but he felt about ready to drop flat on his face. Taking a few deep breaths, he looked around, as Kei and the others came over to him.

"Is that it? Seems like Kain was a lot harder to kill," said Nobuyuki. Achika shrugged.

"He probably wasn't expecting it to have to deal with anything more than the kids," she said, and then blinked as the younger Ayeka tugged lightly on her sleeve.

"Achika, who are all these people? Are they friends too?" she asked. Somehow, the innocent question swept away all of the tension, and they laughed.

"Yes, Princess, they are… my family," she said, smiling. The younger Ayeka grinned.

"Then they are my family, too," she said firmly, giggling. Tenchi grinned in spite of himself. His father smiled, and then cleared his throat.

"We should signal Washu, and get home," he said quietly. Achika started to agree, when suddenly Kei gasped.

"Look out!" she shouted, just before they were all knocked off their feet as the ground suddenly swelled beneath them. Kei landed near him, and Tenchi automatically began to reach for his sword. Before he got his hand around it, a black tentacle shot down, and pinned him to the ground. He heard his mother and father call that they too were caught, followed by Ayeka and Sasami.

He looked back at Kei, and then felt his throat go dry. Kei was unconscious, but standing over her…

She was a bit taller than she had been in the dream - no wait, that was because she was floating about a foot above the ground. She wore an odd sort of robe that managed to be both skin tight and yet, flowing at the same time. Perhaps the strangest thing was that she seemed to be shining, or maybe that was just because before her, the impossibly black form of the miasma had risen once again. Ryoko scowled, pushing the tendril that would have pinned Kei down back.

Something clicked, suddenly, in the back of his mind. That horrible crash her parents had died in, yet somehow, miraculously, had left her unscathed. It shouldn't have been possible for her, only a baby at the time, to have survived, much less unharmed, but somehow, she had. The miasma had fallen over her, and then those fireballs had blasted through it, saving her. She'd survived… because Ryoko had been protecting her, all along. The way she'd had of sensing people and things that might have wound up injuring her… All along, it had been Ryoko, protecting her. Ryoko hadn't been reborn into Kei… Ryoko had been hiding within her, waiting until now, and keeping Kei safe in return.

With a final heave, she threw the tentacle aside, and then fired a half dozen fireballs at the main mass. It was thrown back, and with a snap, he was free to move again. Tenchi was on his feet, the sword ignited, before the miasma had even landed. But before he could do anything, Ryoko stepped between him and it, and spoke softly.

"You can't stop it, but I can. Your timeline doesn't need me, anymore, but she does need at least one of us." She paused, and then grinned slightly. "I think she'll forgive me this once, if I do this." She abruptly stepped a bit closer, and brushed a kiss across his cheek. He jumped - it was like being touched by pure energy. Then, she suddenly grabbed Tenchi-ken, and shoved him away, as the miasma closed in. Tenchi landed unceremoniously next to Kei.

Before he could recover, Ryoko turned back to the miasma, raising the sword before her. "LEAVE THEM ALONE!" she screamed, as the sword… changed. She aimed it at the miasma, and a bar of solid light burst forth from it, so bright that it blasted away everything else, blinding him. He heard that strange, silent scream again, only this time it went on and on, growing higher and higher in pitch. And then, after what seemed a very long time, he heard something else. 

"Good-bye," Ryoko said, softly. The silent scream rose to a crescendo, and then finally faded away.

Tenchi went to open his eyes… and then blinked, as he realized that he'd never closed them, but could still only see that searing, blinding light. A strange peace settled over him, as he started to laugh, understanding. The blinding light…

"What are you laughing about, Tenchi?" asked Kei, after a moment. He shook his head.

"Nothing, Kei. I'm laughing at nothing," he said, softly. He heard her and somebody else gasp softly - Ayeka, he thought.

He couldn't see to tell for certain.

  


Kei stared at Tenchi, who was only staring straight ahead, at nothing. "Oh no…" Tenchi turned toward her slightly, and smiled.

"It's… alright, Kei. I suppose now I'll get a chance to really find out what it was like, for you. One more thing in common between us," he said quietly, before starting to stand up. "Ayeka and Ryoko, are they alright?" he asked, stumbling. She quickly moved over to him, and helped keep him steady. "Thanks," he said, smiling again.

"They're… they're fine, Tenchi," said Achika, staring at him with a stunned expression. Tenchi just nodded, as if nothing had happened. "Just knocked out."

"Then we're done here, right? Except for the memory chips," he said. Slowly, Nobuyuki nodded, as he withdrew the thin case from his pocket. The elder Ayeka turned to the Guardians, as he knelt by the younger girls.

"Scan, and identify," she ordered. They both turned to her.

"You are Princess Ayeka, First Princess of Jurai," confirmed Azaka.

"How can this be?" asked Kamadake. Ayeka shook her head.

"That does not matter. Do you recognize my authority?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess," they replied.

"Then hear this order, and obey me. What you have witnessed today, you must not speak of, until after Kain has been destroyed, and Ryoko has recovered - you don't have to understand now, just obey and they should understand when you do tell them. Once Ryoko has recovered, then you must tell them all that transpired here today," she said. 

"As you… wish, your Highness," said Azaka.

"Wait - one more thing. When you tell them, ask Ayeka to talk to Tenchi and Ryoko about her favorite nanny - the one with silver hair," said Achika suddenly. Ayeka eyed her askance, and Achika grinned. "Trust me. They'll understand, and I'll explain to you on our way home," she said. Ayeka shrugged.

"Fair enough. Do as she asked, as well, Azaka, Kamadake," she said.

"Yes, your Highness," confirmed Kamadake. Ayeka turned to them as Nobuyuki rose.

"They're ready too. We're all done, now. Let's… go home."

As the cabbit-ship rose into the sky, Kamadake turned to his counter-part. "Who were they?" he asked.

"I'm… not sure. Somehow, they all seemed a little familiar," replied Azaka. "I have the feeling we'll see them again, though."

  


Weakly, it strained to go after its targets as the Guardians carried them away. But it had lost too much energy. It knew it was dying. Reaching out, it tried to find - wait! Far below, buried under the earth, it sensed another weakly fluttering spirit. It let itself sink down to it. It was too weak to control the spirit, but if it could meld with it, perhaps it could influence it in some way…

He felt it, dimly, as the miasma joined with him, and as it did, a memory came loose. A name. His name.

"Kagato."

  


"Ten… Tenchi?"

He looked up in surprise, as he felt a light touch on his hand, and then broke into a wide smile of relief. "Ryoko… Hi," he said softly. She looked at him, with her huge, beautiful golden eyes.

"What… What happened? The last thing that I remember is Washu bringing us back. How did I end up here?" she asked.

"It… isn't important, right now, Ryoko," he said. She frowned at him.

"Don't tell me it isn't important, I want-" she started, but he shook his head, placing two fingers over her lips to make her stop.

"I promise, I'll tell you everything, but right now I want you to let me talk, alright?" he said. Slowly, she nodded, and he smiled. "I once lost somebody who was very important to me. Her name was Achika, and she was my mother. For a long time, I wondered if she'd known how important to me she was. I'd never really told her, you see; I was sure that she already knew. But when she died, suddenly, I found myself wondering… Had she really known? Had she died because I hadn't told her how much I loved her? Maybe it was a childish thought, but I wondered. It haunted me; sometimes, it still does." He paused, looking at her.

"More recently, I almost lost somebody else who is also very important to me. At first, I hadn't realized how much she meant to me. I thought that she'd just been here to turn my life inside out. Time after time, I managed to hurt her, or let her down, and I couldn't understand why she kept coming back, only to have me let her down again. Then something happened to her, and she was almost taken away from me for good. And suddenly, I realized that, just like my mother, I'd never really told her how much she meant to me, that I'd just assumed she'd known," he said, before pausing again. 'Just say it,' his double had told him. Could it really be that simple? 

He looked at Ryoko for a moment, and knew that yes, it could.

"I almost lost you, Ryoko. I don't ever want to go through that again, but just in case, I have to make sure you know. I love you. I have ever since I found you unconscious by that pool of water, when Ryo-Ohki crashed here, and I'm sorry that I took so long to tell you," he told her quietly. For a long moment, she stared at him silently, and then, slowly, she smiled at him.

"I have always known, Tenchi. But it's good to be reminded, now and then, just to be sure," she said softly. He smiled at her, and nodded. Then he stood up, and offered her his hand.

"Come on. Everybody will be glad to know that you're alright," he said, as she took his hand and slid off the bed. Then she paused a moment.

"Tenchi?" she asked. He looked at her.

"Yes, Ryoko?"

"I love you, too," she said quietly. He smiled.

"I know. But it's good to be reminded now and then, just to be sure," he said. She smiled at him, as he lightly put an arm around her waist and they left the small room.

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



	10. Epilogue: Bonds of Life

What Might Have Been Epilogue: Bonds of Life

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me.

Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to [Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com][1].

!!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had _very_ different experiences.

*****

"Alright Tenchi. Shade your eyes. I'm starting to cut away the bandages now," said Washu. Tenchi sighed, and nodded. They'd arrived back in their own time, and had found out they really had succeeded easily enough - according to Ryou-oh's star maps, the Darkspace no longer existed. Washu had checked him over, and said that in all likelihood, his blindness was only temporary, his eyes having shut down to protect themselves from the exceedingly bright light he'd been exposed to. It was a simple defensive mechanism, done in order to avoid damage. That had been three days ago. But over those three days, something extraordinary had happened. It had rained.

At first, he hadn't been sure what it was he was hearing. He'd been sitting on the porch as the first drops fell. He'd heard the pattering as they hit the ground, and wondered what they were. It was almost too soft to hear, but too loud to miss. Then he'd heard a bit of thunder in the distance, and a stray gust of wind had blown some of the droplets onto him. Still, he hadn't been sure what it was, even when he felt the rain. It had started to rain a bit harder; he'd just listened as it fell to the ground.

It hadn't been until Kei had come out and asked him why he was listening so hard to the rain that his mind had put it all together. The thunder, the droplets, the pitter-patter as it hit the ground… He'd never really listened to the rain before. He hadn't needed to - he'd been able to see it. He'd ended up sitting outside through the entire storm, just listening to it.

Slowly, Washu unwound the bandages around his head, and suddenly Tenchi had to laugh. Could it possibly have only been a week before, when it had been him watching as his aunt removed the bandages from Kei's head? That seemed like a lifetime ago, now. He still had to take her back to the carnival so that she could see it! How very much things could change and yet, stay the same in a single week. "Alright. Remember, open your eyes slowly, and close them immediately if they start to hurt," she said. Tenchi grinned in spite of himself.

"I remember, Aunt," he said. He felt her pull away the gauze pads, and started to open his eyelids. For a moment, everything was just a bright blur. Then, slowly, his eyes focused in on Kei, and her shining, beautiful teal eyes. He grinned slightly. "And that," he said, "is a sight for sore eyes. Oddly enough, they're a sight for mine, too." A collective laugh went up, as the tension in the room drained away. He smiled, standing, and crossed the room to Kei.

"I'm glad you're ok, Tenchi," she said, smiling at him. He grinned. 

"You know, I don't think I would have been too disappointed if my eyes really had been permanently blinded," he said quietly. "I mean, I wouldn't get to see you any more, but… I dunno." She blinked at him.

"But…"

"I would have been blind, I know. Somehow, that didn't bother me as much as I thought that it would. I kept thinking about you, how you never let it get in the way of who you were. It wasn't a handicap for you. And then, during that rainstorm… You said, just before all of this began, that seeing was like touching everything for the first time, but with your eyes instead of your hands. For me, it was the first time I'd ever really heard a rain storm, instead of just watched it," he said. After a moment, she nodded.

"I understand," she said. He smiled at her.

"Besides, I knew, whether I could see you or not, I'd still love you. That was and is more important to me than anything else could ever be," he said. She smiled at him.

"My eyes changed back," she said, after a moment, and he nodded.

"I thought that they probably had," he told her. "When the miasma came back, and you got knocked out, it was Ryoko that finally defeated him. I finally understood something… All along, from the time of the crash, she must have been protecting you, in return for hiding within you." She nodded, and he grinned. "Anyway, golden or teal, that hardly matters. You're beautiful with either," he said. She blushed slightly, grinning.

"You're laying it on pretty thick, flirt," she muttered. Before he could reply, there was a knock on the door. His mother went over, and opened it.

"Kiyone! And who's this? Where's Mihoshi?" she asked, letting the teal-haired detective and her companion come in. Kiyone smiled sadly.

"Hello Achika. This is Nagi, and old friend of mine. She helped us get Washu's box installed. Mihoshi… didn't make it," she said quietly. Achika started, and gasped softly.

"Oh no… What happened?" she asked. Kiyone sighed.

"A detective caught wind of what we were up to, and managed to track us down in the station. He was some sort of experimental cyborg," she said. Achika frowned.

"Fox-faced, with a cybernetic arm?" she asked. Kiyone nodded.

"How did you know?"

"He went back in time as well, tracking Kain. Kain tore him in half. Literally," she said quietly.

"He came upon us while I was halfway through the timed sequence. I didn't have a choice but to finish connecting it," she said, before faltering. Nagi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Trakal was programmed to be the 'perfect' officer. When Kiyone moved to finish hooking it up, he fired, which was exactly what he was supposed to do. Mihoshi jumped in the way. She saved Kiyone's life, and gave her the chance to finish hooking it up. We wouldn't be here now, if not for her," she said. "Hello, by the way, as Kiyone said, I am Nagi. I trained both Kiyone and Mihoshi in covert ops," she finished, bowing slightly. Achika smiled sadly.

"Make yourself at home. Kiyone, come with me. You look like you haven't slept in a week," she said, smiling again, as she gently led Kiyone toward the stairs. Tenchi grinned slightly. Nobody could resist his mother's mothering. The grin saddened. Maybe he hadn't gotten the chance to get to know Mihoshi, but Kiyone had lived with her, worked with her for a long, long time. If anybody deserved a little mothering at the moment, it was Kiyone.

"Nagi… Nagi… I seem to recall hearing of a quite well known bounty hunter of the same name some sixteen years ago. Are you she?" asked Ayeka. Nagi nodded.

"I was." She smirked slightly, and shrugged. "Now that my career in the Galaxy Police is over, I might be again," she said. Ayeka nodded.

"Should that be the case, I believe I could probably find a few cases you might wish to look in to," she said, smiling. Nagi smirked at her slightly.

"We'll have to see. You'll have to run it by my partner, too," she replied, and then glanced aside as Achika came back down the steps.

"Kiyone went out before she hit the pillow. I take it that she did more thinking than sleeping on the way back?" she asked. Nagi nodded, her expression softening for a moment. 

"Can't say that I blame her. I know what she's going through."

"Would you mind filling us all in on what happened out there, while we were in the past?" asked Ayeka.

"Why not? I first found out when Kiyone woke me up in the middle of the night…"

  


Ryoko glanced up, as Ayeka came over to join Tenchi and her, the Guardians following along behind her. "Well, I'm glad that's over. Maybe now things can get back to normal," she said, sitting down on Tenchi's other side, and then frowning. "But, something has been bothering me, ever since you got out that filmstrip, Lord Tenchi," she said.

"What's that, Ayeka?" he asked. She glanced at him.

"It was Lady Achika… When I first saw her, I thought that I recognized her," she said. "I don't know how, but for just a moment… Except, I think that she was older. And I swear I remember her telling me something… What was it…" She frowned a moment in deep thought, and then abruptly smiled. "It was, 'No matter who they are born to, all children are special, especially to their mothers,'" she said. Ryoko nodded.

"That sure sounds like something Achika would say…" she agreed.

"Well… she was half Juraian. Maybe you knew somebody that looked like her," he suggested. Ayeka frowned doubtfully.

"Actually, your Highness…" said Azaka suddenly. They turned to the Guardians, curious.

"Yes, Azaka?" she prompted.

"Galactic year 3131. Life form scanned and identified as Princess Ayeka ordered us to conceal certain events that occurred on the same date, until such time as Kain was defeated, and Ryoko recovered," said Azaka. They stared at each other.

"What? But I was a little girl then, only seven years old!" she exclaimed.

"That is correct. It was the first time that you and Ryoko met. Another Ayeka appeared, who was equal in age to you today. The only defining feature that would differentiate the two of you was a large amount of scar tissue, running from her chin to just above her waist line. She was accompanied by who we later identified as Princess Sasami, Nobuyuki, Tenchi, Achika, and one more humanoid, who we never met again - we assume that her name was Kei, from their dialogue," said Kamadake.

"An entity appeared intent on killing both the young forms of Ayeka, and Ryoko. Tenchi, and what appeared to be Ryoko as she is today destroyed it. Afterwards, the elder Ayeka ordered us to conceal those events from you until now," finished Azaka.

"Our doubles - that must have been where the miasma attacked. That explains the alteration to Ryoko's memory," said Tenchi. Ayeka nodded.

"There was one more thing; a message from Achika to the three of you," said Azaka.

"We don't understand what it means - Achika assured us that you would understand and be able to explain it to us," continued Kamadake.

"Achika requested that Ayeka tell Tenchi and Ryoko about a favorite nanny of hers - the one with silver hair," finished Azaka. Ayeka blinked.

"Huh? Why would she want them to know about a nanny I had?" she asked in confusion.

"She seemed certain that you would understand," said Azaka.

"Why not just tell us, little Princess," suggested Ryoko. She looked at them, shrugging.

"There's not much to tell, really. If she means who I'm thinking of, she was a young, very beautiful woman. She had silver hair, and golden eyes. That's all I really remember, except that Father made her leave one day, and mother was very angry over the matter. Oh yes, and just before she was made to leave…" Ayeka trailed off abruptly, her eyes widening and a look of absolute horror spreading across her face, as she stared at Ryoko. Tenchi and Ryoko blinked, looking at each other.

"What is it, Ayeka?" asked Tenchi. For a moment, Ayeka's mouth worked, no sound coming out. "Ayeka?"

"Ryoko… Would you please de… describe your… mother?" she asked very, very softly. Ryoko blinked.

"Well…" she said slowly. "She was very beautiful… had golden eyes like me… silver hair… She died when I was very young so I don't… Wait a moment. Beautiful, golden eyes, silver hair… just like-"

"Just like the nanny Lady Achika wanted me to describe, and… who… my Father… made leave… because… she… was… pregnant," she said, in a very strangled voice. Tenchi started laughing softly. "And Mother never got that angry, unless…" She stared at Ryoko again, more sheer terror in her eyes than Ryoko had ever seen in anybody's eyes.

"Unless?" prompted Tenchi. Ayeka stared at him for a moment.

"Unless she caught him in one of his… extracurricular affairs," she said faintly. Ryoko blinked, and stared at Ayeka for a moment, before laughing.

"Oh, come on Ayeka, that's crazy. That's too much of a coincidence. It'd have to be," she said, before slowing down. "It's gotta be. Otherwise, that'd mean we were…" Slowly, she stopped laughing, and swallowed as her throat suddenly went a little dry. "That'd mean we were… sisters…" They looked at each other a moment, and then laughed nervously. 

"Yes, that couldn't be… Lady Achika must have been mistaken."

"Yeah, I mean, as much as we argue?"

They looked at each other for a long, long moment, as Tenchi started laughing harder.

"WASHU!!!"

   [1]: mailto:Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com



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